Trapped into Whoniverse, part 2
by MoonRaven95
Summary: The Doctor has regenerated now and the next series of adventures are waiting for you gang. How will everything turn out when they meet old friends, old enemies, suffer losses and see the universe out there? Sierra also will look around on her own. One cannot stay still all the time. Second Series. TenRose and just friendship between Sierra, Ten, Mickey and Jack.
1. Christmas Invasion

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm not dead yet! Soon I'll be though when my exam week starts... Oh well... Anyways, here starts the Second part! The Doctor has regenared, Rose is freaking out, Jack is thrown somewhere in time and Sierra is heading back to London after her meeting with the Second Doctor. New series of adventures is about to begin.**

**But let's get onto the story before I spoil everything. Please enjoy! ;)**

* * *

**X. It's Christmas!**

Sierra whirled through the Vortex. A glance at Timmy told her that she was following the course the Second Doctor had piloted Tardis on. The moment when she had jumped, he had changed the course drastically so she could follow the route and he didn't need to get too close to his future incarnation and his Tardis.

"Let's see where I will end up to." She smirked. Her flight was much steadier now.

* * *

It was after the attack of the Christmas tree in the Tyler flat. The newly regenerated Doctor had stopped it with the Sonic Screwdriver and was now going out onto the balcony while securing a dressing gown around him. Rose, Jackie and Mickey followed him. Outside on the ground stood three of the robot Santas.

"That's them. What are they?" Mickey said to no one particular.

"Shush!" Rose… shushed him while looking at the Doctor, who raised his Sonic Screwdriver and pointed it at the Santas in a threatening manner. They backed away, standing closer to each other. Then… teleported themselves away.

"They've just gone! What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a Sonic Screwdriver's gonna scare them off." Mickey huffed.

"Pilot Fish." The Doctor told them.

"What?" Rose asked. They all look at him.

"They were just Pilot Fish." He said again. He looked at the yard. "Oh…"

Golden whirl appeared in the middle of the yard, actually right on the spot where the Pilot Fish had stood. Rose turned to look in the same direction than him.

"Is that…?"

"Yeah." The Doctor said before coughing hard and throwing himself backwards against the wall, clearly in pain. The golden whirl disappeared, leaving a girl in a purple quilted jacket standing there. She looked up but saw none of them. They all were kneeling down next to the Time Lord.

"What's wrong?!" Rose asked in panic.

"You woke me up too soon." He told her, breathing heavily. "I'm still regenerating. I'm bursting with energy."

More of the Vortex escaped through his mouth. The girl on the yard saw it and started to run towards the house.

"You see? The Pilot Fish could smell it. A million miles away. So they eliminate the defence - that's you lot - and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of year-." He lurched forward, groaning.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Jackie let out in worry.

"My head!"

Jackie kneeled before him, holding him up.

"I'm having a neuron implosion. I need-."

"What do you need?" The woman asked.

"I need-."

"Say it, tell me, tell me-."

"I need-."

"Painkillers?"

"I need-."

"Do you need aspirin?"

"I-."

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I dunno… Pepto-Bismol?"

"I need-."

"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"

"I need-."

"Is it food? Something simple? Uh- a bowl of soup? A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?" Jackie's voice rose to the hysteric level. The doorbell rang. No one went to answer it.

"I need you to shut up." The Doctor managed to say finally.

"Oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?" Jackie huffed. The doorbell rang again a sharp knocking following it. The Doctor lurched forward again, and leaned against the opposite wall.

"We haven't got much time. If there's Pilot Fish, then-." There was whirling noise by the front door but no one heard it. The Doctor took an apple out of his dressing gown pocket. "Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"

"Oh, that's Howard, sorry." Jackie said sheepishly.

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

The Doctor looked at the apple confusedly. "What, he gets hungry in his sleep?"

"Sometimes."

The Doctor suddenly shouted with pain again and sank to the floor. The front door opened and they could hear someone running towards them.

"Brain… collapsing…" The Doctor gasped out and grabbed hold of Rose's upper arms, holding them tightly. Sierra slid into the view. Literally slid, on the floor, her boots still on. She was panting slightly after running up the stairs.

"P- the Pilot Fish. The Pilot Fish mean... that something… something…" The Doctor was telling the blonde with deep breaths between the words.

"They mean that something's coming." Sierra said. The Doctor looked at her briefly before…

"Exactly." He collapsed into Rose's lap.

* * *

Rose kneeled next to the Doctor on his bed, tucking him in and mopping his forehead with a flannel. Sierra sat by the foot of the bed, watching the Time Lord with worry in her eyes. He was restless and sweaty. Mickey passed the room holding a laptop. He looked at all three of them. Rose looked back. He nodded, then went on his way.

"Where were you?" Rose asked quietly from the other girl. Sierra looked absent-mindedly at the Doctor before snapping into focus. She looked up at the blonde.

"I… I went to find Jack."

"How is he? The Doctor said he was alright."

"Yeah, he's fine. He managed to get out of the Satellite before it broke down.

"And you?"

"Emergency Protocol. I was whisked away to… another time. A friend of mine took me in for a while. I slept for thirteen…? Yeah, thirteen it was I think… thirteen hours and then came here."

"I see. I'm glad you are alright."

"I'm also happy to see you both in one piece." Sierra smiled. Rose left the room after a while, leaving the girl sitting there and staring in the space.

* * *

Minutes passed before Sierra got up. She walked through the living room straight to the hall.

"I'm going to meet someone. See you in a bit." She grabbed her jacket and exited the flat before they could stop her. She walked the rest of the stairs up to the rooftop and looked around. The rock-formation-like space ship of the Sycorax wasn't at sight yet. She tapped her destination into her VM and was gone in a swirl of gold.

"Miss Adler, this is such a sudden appearance." The voice of Mycroft Holmes greeted her as soon as her feet hit the ground. Sierra turned around to face the man.

"Well, I could've jumped off some rooftop again but it would have just taken too long time. I promise to do that the next time I'm here though." She smirked.

"What brings you here?"

"Have you seen the Pilot Fish yet? Those robo-Santas?" Sierra asked, untangling her scarf and taking off her woolly hat.

"I've been given some reports, yes. I'm leaving soon to meet the Prime Minister and the UNIT."

"Harriet Jones made it after all. Did you expect it at all?" Sierra took a seat opposite the man and rested her hands on her lap.

"Maybe a bit. After she made that press conference right after Downing Street was down." Mycroft grimaced inwardly at the unintended pun. Sierra chuckled.

"But then UNIT came to cover it all up. Or was it Torchwood?"

"And how do you know about Torchwood?" Sierra was met by the steely glare of the British Government.

"Oh yeah, you don't know me yet. I forgot that." She smiled before adding. "Time-travel, I've met you twice this far. The previous time was… three to four years from now on."

"I see. Must be annoying. But you didn't answer to my question."

"I didn't. But tell me first, have you put your security tabs and such after me? The Surveillance Level something and something?"

"I have."

"And have you found anything?"

"No."

"Any ideas why?"

"…No." Sierra could see that Mycroft was very reluctant to admit it. Her smirk widened.

"Are you familiar with the concept of parallel worlds?"

The explanation was long and needed a lot of proving but in the end Mycroft believed her. She told him about her accidental appearing to the world and how in her world there was TV series about the Doctor and Sherlock. About the latter, the man was a bit surprised. Sierra told also her travels with the Doctor and the recent regeneration. After some more polite words they both headed to the meeting Mycroft had mentioned. He would've wanted to not to take the girl with him but knew he couldn't do anything to stop her following. And he knew that Harriet Jones would be more than pleased to meet her again.

* * *

The doors to UNIT opened, and Llewellyn entered, followed by two others. The room was extremely busy.

"Mr Llewellyn." A man greeted him while he approached Harriet Jones.

"Mr Llewellyn, ma'am." He introduced himself.

"Harriet Jones. Prime Minister." The woman introduced herself, holding up her ID card. A girl behind her snorted and told a man next to him something that made him shook his head in a mild amusement.

"Oh, well, yes. I know who you are. I suppose I've ruined your Christmas." Llewellyn sighed, trying to ignore the two.

"Never off duty. Now, we've put out a cover story. Alex has been handling it." Harriet told him.

"We've said it was a hoax. Some sort of mask or prosthetics." A younger man, Alex, told them. Llewellyn nodded. "Students hi-jacking the signal, that sort of thing.

"Alex is my right-hand man. I'm not used to having a right-hand man. I quite like it, though." Harriet explained.

"Quite like it myself." Alex smiled and they grinned at each other.

"You were a backbencher too long Harriet." The girl behind smiled and then waved to Llewellyn. "Hi, I'm Sierra Adler. I just found out that I have a UNIT clearance." She told brightly.

"I-… I don't suppose there's any chance it was a hoax?" Llewellyn asked after taking in the girl's absolutely normal and non-military appearance.

"That would be nice. Then we could all go home. I don't suppose anyone's offered you a coffee...?" Harriet asked.

"No."

Harriet poured coffee into a cup. "But, no - the transmission was genuine. And this seems to be a new species of alien." She handed him the coffee. "At least not one we've encountered before."

"It's Sycorax." Sierra told them. Harriet nodded to her. Apparently she had told it earlier to her.

"You seem to be talking about aliens as a matter of fact." Llewellyn said, taking the cup.

"There's an act of parliament banning my autobiography."

A new man joined them. "Prime Minister?"

"I'm with you." And she followed him into the busy room. Sierra, Mycroft and a couple of more people followed her.

"Miss Jacobs can explain." The man – Blake - told them. A blonde woman at a computer stood up to meet them.

"I don't think we've been introduced. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

"Old habits definitely die hard…" Sierra muttered so only Mycroft could hear.

"Yes, I - I know who you are. The transmission didn't come from the surface of Mars. Guinevere One was broadcasting from a point 5 thousand miles above the planet." Jacobs told them.

"In other words, they've got a ship and the probe is on board." Blake clarified.

"But if they're not from the surface, then... they might not be from Mars itself. Maybe they're not actual Martians." Llewellyn thought aloud.

"Of course not, Martians look completely different."

"And I already said it is the Sycorax." Sierra added with a sigh. Llewellyn looked rather shocked.

"We think the ship was in flight when they just came across the probe."

"And they're moving. The ship's still in flight now. We've got it on the Hubble array." Jacobs turned back to the computer.

"Moving in which direction?" Harriet asked.

"Towards us."

"How fast?" Sierra asked.

"Very fast."

Harriet Jones stared at the diagram showing the position of the ship in comparison to the Earth which Jacobs had made come on the large screen on the wall.

"What was your name, again?" The woman asked the younger one.

"Sally."

"Thank you, Sally."

* * *

Time passed. A Sycorax – probably the leader of them – appeared on the computer screen and talked to them in passionate anger. But the translation program was taking time so they didn't know what the alien was saying. And according to an estimate, the ship was five hours from them.

Blake was sitting in a chair, deep in thought. Harriet Jones went up to him, and he stood up. Sierra watched them from distance.

"I don't suppose we've had a Code 9? No sign of the Doctor?" The woman asked.

"Nothing yet." Blake answered and Harriet closed her eyes, disappointed. "You've met him, haven't you?" Harriet nodded. "More like the stuff of legend."

"He is that. Failing him..." She looked him directly in the eyes. "What about Torchwood?"

"Don't contact them." Sierra interrupted. Harriet turned around.

"Why not?"

"They just scavenge alien stuff and if they get any aliens on their hands they dissect them. If you have to call them, call Torchwood Three. They are nice and competent. But Torchwood London is just a bunch of... They act on wrong principles at the moment. They think that Doctor is their enemy, that any alien coming here is an enemy. Heck, Torchwood was founded to protect the Earth against an alien threat, namely the Doctor in this case."

"And how did that happen?"

"Well… The Doctor saved Queen Victoria from an alien werewolf, got knighted and banished on the same ceremony… And the Torchwood was founded. Mind you, he hasn't done that yet on his time line." Sierra shrugged. "Besides… Torchwood is a secret organization."

"Right… I know I'm not supposed to know about Torchwood, I realize that. Not even the United Nations knows. But if ever there was a need for Torchwood, it's now." Harriet retorted.

"I can't take responsibility." Blake put in.

"I can. See to it. Get them ready."

Sierra bit her lip and shook her head in expiration. Blake nodded and left the two females while Alex approached Harriet, holding the laptop.

"Prime Minister..."

"Has it worked?"

"Just about." Alex placed the laptop down on a desk and showed her. Mycroft, Llewellyn and Jacobs also came to watch. "'People'... that could be 'cattle'... 'you belong to us. To the Sycorax' - they seem to be called 'Sycorax', not Martians. 'We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax rock' - as in the modern sense, they rock."

"Pompous lot of them." Sierra huffed.

"'They will die'? Not 'you will die', 'they will die'? Who's _they_?"

Sierra bit her lip. Mycroft shot her a short glance and frowned briefly at her anxious expression.

"I don't know, but it is the right personal pronoun, it's they."

"Send them our reply. Tell them... 'this is a day of peace on planet Earth.' Tell them... 'we extend that peace to the Sycorax'." Harriet told Alex who took notes. "And then tell them... 'this planet is armed and we do not surrender'."

Jacobs nodded. The three of them left her, leaving Mycroft and Sierra there.

"You should go. I can see you can't stay here without blurting the facts." Mycroft told the girl. Sierra looked up.

"O-Okay… I go to check Doctor and Rose…" Sierra tapped her watch and was gone.

"Blurting the facts?" Harriet asked.

"Yes, she knows very well what is going on." Mycroft said, not giving any more accurate explanation.

* * *

Sierra appeared to the hallway of the Tyler flat. It was very quiet in there.

"Hello? I'm back." She called. Rose ran from the living room to hug her, Mickey right behind her. To Sierra's surprise the boy hugged her too. Actually he hugged both of the girls at the same time. "Everything alright?"

"He isn't waking up…" Rose said quietly.

"He will. He just needs time."

"…okay." The blonde let go of her and took a step back. They all looked in the bedroom where Jackie had fallen asleep beside the Doctor. Rose walked there to lean against the doorframe while watching the pair of them. Mickey stood next to her and Sierra a bit away from them, taking off her jacket and hat. Rose glanced at Mickey and Sierra, and then back at the Doctor.

"The Doctor wouldn't do this. The old Doctor. The proper Doctor. He'd wake up. He'd save us." The blonde said quietly. Sierra stopped in the middle of putting her jacket on the coat rack and briefly glared the other girl murderously. Rose didn't notice it though.

"You really love him, don't you?" Mickey asked. Sierra looked away. Yes, Rose loved the Ninth Doctor and it was natural for her to miss him but now she was being selfish for wishing him back while it was impossible and calling him 'the proper Doctor'. All the Doctors were proper, a bit different from each other but still the same person! And he couldn't help his situation. In a way it was Rose's fault. If she hadn't gone and opened the heart of Tardis, the Doctor hadn't needed to absorb the Time Vortex from her and regenerate. Although then he wouldn't be alive at all neither would Jack.

Sierra suppressed the urge to hit the blonde and yell at her. Instead she announced she was going to sleep. Rose told she could sleep in her room since the blonde didn't feel like sleeping much.

She slept well through the night, despite having slept thirteen hours earlier. And when she finally woke up, Rose and Mickey were nowhere to be seen. Sierra looked at the clock by the wall. It said it was almost midday or so.

"People on the roof tops…" Sierra sighed, getting up. She walked the stairs up to the roof and found Rose and Mickey there, watching the people on the edge of the roof and their loved ones trying to get them away from the edge.

"What do we do?" Mickey asked Rose. They didn't notice Sierra's presence.

"Nothing. There's no-one to save us. Not anymore." The blonde answered. Sierra wanted go and slap her but instead she stayed calm and said:

"Rubbish. We wait now. We have to. And we have time. Because you know what? We have a Time Lord on our side. He might be asleep now but trust me, he will be awake when the need is greatest." Then she turned on her heels and strode back inside before either of the teens got a chance to argue back.

* * *

Jackie, Rose and Mickey were in the living room, watching TV and listening Harriet Jones's speech. Sierra was in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching the Doctor. She could hear clearly what was going on in the living room though.

"_Ladies and gentlemen... if I may take a moment during this terrible time. It's hardly the Queen's speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled…. Did we ask about the royal family? ... Oh. They're on the roof. But - Ladies and gentlemen - this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request: Doctor. If you're out there... we need you. I don't know what to do. But if you can hear me, Doctor... If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him... the situation has never been more desperate…"_

Rose walked to the Doctor's room, silent tears running down her cheeks. Sierra looked up at her but didn't say anything.

"…_Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us."_

Rose leant against the doorframe, watching the Doctor's lifeless from. She was sobbing, taking great gulping breaths, the tears flooding down her cheeks. Jackie came to her, and took her arm. Rose turned to her and put her arms on Jackie's shoulders, her eyes squeezed shut.

"He's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's left me, mum. He's left me, mum..." The blonde sobbed. Jackie placed a kiss on her forehead and embraced her. Rose cried onto her shoulder while Sierra looked pointedly away, holding the Doctor's hand.

"It's all right... I'm sorry..." Jackie told her daughter soothingly.

At that moment, the windows smashed, showering the floor with glass. The ground shook violently. Sierra jumped up but didn't let go of the Doctor's hand.

From the window Sierra looked at the Sycorax spaceship. It looked like a floating rock formation. She had called to Jack to see what they knew but unfortunately they were about as lost as she was. Sierra could hear steps running towards the room. Rose, Mickey and Jackie.

"Mickey, we're gonna carry him. Mum - get your stuff, and get some food. We're going." Rose ordered the other two. Sierra turned away from the window.

"Well, where to?" Mickey asked.

"The TARDIS. It's the only safe place on Earth." Sierra answered and Rose nodded. "I can take care of him." She wrapped her left arm under the Time Lord and lifted him a bit so he was on the sitting position. "See you soon."

"What're we gonna do in there?!" Jackie asked.

"Hide." Rose answered. Sierra vanished from the room with the Doctor.

"Is that it?!"

"Mum - look in the sky. There's a great, big, alien invasion and - I don't know what to do, alright? I've travelled with him, and I've seen all that stuff but when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now, all we can do is run and hide, and I'm sorry. Now, move." Jackie left the room.

* * *

Sierra and the Doctor appeared in the console. A soft welcoming but tired hum greeted them. Sierra laid the Doctor's head down on the grating gently before getting up and patting the console.

"I missed you too."

Rose and Mickey came in, carrying some bags. Jackie was following them hurriedly. She paused for a moment, looking around before coming in completely.

"No chance you could fly this thing?" Mickey asked.

"Not anymore, no." Rose admitted reluctantly.

"Well, you did it before..."

"I know, but it's sort of been... wiped out of my head, like it's forbidden." Rose shook her head, looking at the Doctor on the floor. "Try that again and I think the universe rips in half."

"Ah, better not, then."

"Maybe not."

"I could drive the Tardis but there are a couple of problems in that." Sierra said from her place at the console. "One: we have no idea where to go. Two: The Doctor is a part on the Tardis in a way. Because he is out of it now for example the translator doesn't work. So I don't know can I pilot the Tardis while he is recovering from the regeneration." She shrugged.

"So, what do we do? Just sit here?" Mickey questioned.

"That's as good as it gets." Rose sighed.

"Right, here we go. Nice cup of tea." Jackie said, giving a thermal flask to them.

"Hmm, the solution to everything..."

"Now, stop your moaning. I'll get the rest of the food." The Tyler matriarch left the TARDIS. Rose leaned against the console and looked down at the Doctor.

"Tea. Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end. Very British." Mickey commented and made Sierra laugh a bit. Rose in the other hand didn't answer. Mickey looked at the TARDIS computer screen. "How does this thing work? It picks up TV, maybe we could see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrendered. What do you do to it?"

"I dunno, it sort of tunes itself." Rose snapped. They both started pressing a few buttons.

There was a slight stumble on the floor, barely noticeable. Mickey and Rose were listening to the bleeping sound the TARDIS computer was making. Sierra dashed to the screen and activated it to show what was right outside the doors.

"Oh dear…" She mumbled.

"Maybe it's a distress signal." Mickey suggested, oblivious of Sierra's worried expression.

"Fat lot of good that's gonna do." Rose huffed. Sierra rolled her eyes. The blonde definitely had a favorite phrase.

"Are you gonna be a misery all the time?" Mickey snapped.

"Yes."

"You should look at it from my point of view - stuck in here with your mum's cooking."

"Where is she?" Rose asked, noticing Jackie's absence for the first time. Mickey shrugged and Rose jumped to her feet. "I'd better go and give her a hand. It might start raining missiles out there."

"Tell her anything from a tin, that's fine."

"Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"I'm not that brave."

Rose was by the door now, her hand on the door handle. "Oh, I don't know..."

"I wouldn't do that…" Sierra said quietly. Rose gave her a dubious look but after giving a smile at Mickey, she opened the door. And got pulled out with a scream. "That's why…"

Mickey looked around. "Rose?"

He dashed after her, dropping the thermal flask of tea on the grating next to the Doctor's head. It started to leak. Sierra made to go after him. She could hear Rose shouting to the Sycorax 'Get off! Get off me!' but didn't make out of the door before Mickey shut it from Rose's orders. Sierra pulled out her Sonic Light to make sure the door would be opened now only from inside.

After doing so she leaned against it, and looked at the Doctor who was still lifeless on the floor. The tea was dripping from the flask and through the grating. It dripped onto the machinery below the console, causing it to steam. Sierra walked to him and kneeled down next to him, picking up the thermal flask and pouring some tea to a mug. She sipped it. Earl Grey. The English were so typical.

The smoke caused by the dripping tea rose from beneath the grating and surrounded the Doctor's head. He took a deep breath in his sleep, opened his mouth a bit and more of the vortex escaped. Sierra smiled. Soon…

* * *

Time passed. Not too long but still a reasonable amount of it. And finally the Doctor opened his eyes. Slowly at first but then, after some rapid blinking, he sat up quickly. Sierra gave start because of the sudden movement.

"Doctor!" She hugged him tightly. "You are alright! You are finally alright!"

"Heh, of course I'm alright." He hugged the girl back equally tightly. When they pulled away, he kept her an arm length from him, looking her up and down. "And you are in one piece too. Great to see you alright!"

"Thank you. I came after you as soon as I could. After taking thirteen hours of sleep…"

"That's much."

"I didn't have any choices. I needed a bit of help and the one who helped me insisted me to sleep. But then I came here." Sierra assured him.

"Who helped you?" The Time Lord frowned.

"Oh you know him, don't worry…" Sierra waved her hand dismissingly. It was possible that her encounters with the earlier generations were lost in his memories. The Eight's amnesia combined with the traumas from the Time War and the regeneration stress. Of course something would be lost! "It's different matter do you remember..."

"Where's Rose?"

"Outside. With Mickey, and Harriet Jones, and a herd of Sycorax."

"Sycorax?"

"Yeah. Controlling the Pilot Fish I guess. And kidnapping Tardie."

"Let's go." The Doctor got on his feet and helped Sierra up too. They strode to the door and peeked outside. "Did you miss me?" He grinned. Sierra smirked too.

"Hello." She waved.

Rose smiled in delight while the other humans just stared at him in confusion and astonishment. The Sycorax Leader roared in fury and lashed his whip at the Doctor, who simply caught the end and snatched it away from him.

"You could have someone's eye out with that!" He pointed out. The Sycorax Leader roared again and tried to attack the Doctor with his staff, but the Doctor snatched it off him too and snapped it over his knee. He chucked the broken pieces on the floor, next to the whip. "You just can't get the staff. Now, you, just wait. I'm busy."

The Sycorax Leader stared at him incredulously. The Doctor pointed at him warningly, then went over to Mickey. "Mickey! Hello! And Harriet Jones MP for Flydale North! Blimey, it's like 'This Is Your Life'! Tea! That's all I needed! A good cup of tea! Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses..." He lowered his voice then "Now... first thing's first... be honest. How do I look?"

"Um... different." Rose said uncertainly.

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just... different."

"It's good different, Tenny. Trust me." Sierra said, stepping next to him.

"Tenny?" He stared at her.

"Tenth Doctor thus Tenny. Live with it. And you look dashing." She smiled widely. Ten was her favorite Doctor this far and probably would always be. After all he was her first Doctor.

"Am I... ginger?" The Doctor asked cautiously and dead serious.

"Sorry, hazel brown. But it's nice too." Sierra assured him.

"Aww, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger." He complained half-heartedly before turning back to Rose. "And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were - you gave up on me - oh, that's rude. That's the sort of man I am now, am I? Rude… Rude and not ginger."

"I'm sorry - who is this?" Harriet butted in.

"I'm the Doctor."

"He's the Doctor." Rose confirmed.

"But what happened to my Doctor? Or is it a title that's just passed on?" The woman asked in frustration.

"I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face - well, new everything." The Doctor told her while approaching her.

"But you can't be."

"Harriet Jones. We were trapped in Downing Street, and the one thing that scared you wasn't the aliens... wasn't the war... it was the thought of your mother being on her own."

"Oh, my God."

"Did you win the election?"

"Landslide majority." She smiled.

"If I might interrupt!" The Sycorax Leader… well, interrupted. They all spun around, having seemed to have forgotten him.

"Yes! Sorry! Hello, big fella!" The Doctor waved.

"Who exactly are you?"

"Well. That's the question."

"I demand to know who you are!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" The Doctor roared, imitating the Sycorax's voice before relaxing. "See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I- I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested."

He started walking around, addressing everyone present. "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic?" A look at Rose. "Sexy?" A cheeky wink. "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a job." He stopped and saw the button. Sierra grinned.

"And how am I gonna react when I see this?" The Doctor pointed up at the button with an insane smile. "A great big threatening button." He took Sierra's hand and they ran up the stairs, both laughing. "A Great Big Threatening Button Which Must Not Be Pressed Under Any Circumstances. Am I right? Let me guess, it's some sort of control matrix? Hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?"

He bended down and pulled open a small door in order to access the controls underneath the button. He noticed the red liquid inside. Sierra peered in too.

"And what've we got here? Blood?" The Doctor dipped his finger in it and tasted it carefully. "Yeah, definitely. Blood. Human blood. A-Positive. With just a dash of iron." Sierra pouted while he wiped his finger on his dressing gown. "Ahh. But that means... blood control… Blood control! Oh! I haven't seen blood control for years! You're controlling all the A-Positives!"

Now the Doctor was absolutely delighted. "Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. 'Cos... I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a Great Big Threatening Button Which Should Never Ever Be Pressed... then I just wanna do this."

"Can I?" Sierra asked eagerly.

"Together!" They whacked the button hard.

"No!" Rose and Harriet shouted simultaneously. A few silent seconds passed before…

"You killed them!" Alex accused the two by the button.

"Nope!" Sierra grinned, popping the 'p'. She leaned her elbows against the edges of the podium the button was on.

"What do you think, big fella? Are they dead?" The Doctor asked the Sycorax leader.

"We allow them to live." The alien said.

"Allow? You've no choice! I mean, that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as far as it goes. It's like hypnosis - you can hypnotize someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis, you can't hypnotize them to death. Survival instinct's too strong." The Doctor huffed.

"Blood control was just one form of conquest. I can summon the armada and take this world by force."

"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that - of course you could. But why? Look at these people. These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than- no, hold on... Sorry, that's 'The Lion King'. But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"

"Or what?"

"Or..." The Doctor grabbed a sword from one of the Sycorax guarding Rose and the others, ran down the steps into the empty floor space in front of the TARDIS and raised it into the air. "I challenge you."

The Sycorax Leader and the other Sycorax bursted out laughing again.

"Oh, that struck a chord. Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?"

"You stand as this world's champion." The Sycorax leader pulled out his sword.

"Thank you. I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up." The Doctor tossed the dressing gown to Rose, who caught it. So… you accept my challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"

The Sycorax Leader hissed. They both kneeled by their swords.

"For the planet?"

"For the planet."

"This is going to be good." Sierra grinned like a Cheshire cat from her place.

They stood up and faced each other, holding their swords ready. They then ran at each other and began to fight. After a few seconds, the Doctor was thrown aside, and the Sycorax Leader laughed. The Doctor, however, straightened himself up and they began to fight again. The Sycorax Leader swung his sword at the Doctor.

"Look out!" Rose shouted. Sierra rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, that helped. Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks." The Doctor commented. They began to fight again, Rose watching them, terrified. The Doctor led the fight up the stairs. "Bit of fresh air?"

He hit a button and a door opens, leading to a platform on the outside of the spaceship. They vanished out of sight, continuing their fight on the platform. Rose, Mickey, Harriet Jones, Alex and a few of the Sycorax followed them, Sierra a bit after them. The swash-buckling continued. The Sycorax Leader managed to catch the Doctor slightly on his nose, and he groaned. Rose began to run forward, but Sierra grabbed her by arm and the Doctor raised a hand to stop her.

"Stay back! Invalidate the challenge and he wins the planet." The Time Lord told the blonde. Sierra pulled her back to the others gently and Mickey wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

The fight continued. The both contestants grimaced with the effort, and the Doctor was knocked backwards to the ground. Taking advantage, the Sycorax Leader slashed at the Doctor's wrist, succeeding in chopping his hand off, up to the elbow. It fell off the side of the spaceship, sword and all. The Doctor watched it drop before looking back at the Sycorax Leader, looking rather stunned and annoyed.

"You cut my hand off."

"YAH! Sycorax!"

"Who said that it was over!?" Sierra yelled. The Doctor got on his feet.

"And now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. 'Cos quite by chance... I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough residual cellular energy... to do this." He held up his stump of an arm, and before the eyes of the observers, it grew right back.

"Witchcraft."

"Time Lord."

Sierra took one of the Sycorax's swords out of its sheath.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor turned and she tossed it to him. He caught it by the handle and spun it around.

"Am I still the Doctor, then?" He asked over his shoulder. "Not Tenny?" Sierra grinned.

"Sure you are. But I think that in dangerous situations I'll call you Doctor. Tenny is reserved to annoy you."

"No arguments from me! You are definitely the Doctor." Rose smiled. The Doctor turned back to the Sycorax leader.

"Wanna know the best bit? This new hand... It's a fightin' hand!"

The Doctor charged at the Sycorax Leader, and the fight continued once more. They clashed swords for a few more moments, then the Doctor jabbed him hard in stomach with the handle of the sword. The onlookers(except Sierra) winced, and the Sycorax Leader groaned. The Doctor did the same twice more, causing the Sycorax Leader to fall to the ground. The Doctor pointed his sword at the alien's throat.

"I win."

"Then kill me."

"I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command: leave this planet, and never return. What do you say?"

"Yes."

"Swear on the blood of your species."

"I swear."

"There we are, then! Thanks for that! Cheers, big fella!" The Doctor jabbed the sword into the ground and walked back to the humans on the platform. Harriet Jones was clapping.

"Bravo!"

"That says it all. Bravo!" Rose rushed to the Doctor.

"Yeah! Not bad for a man in his jim-jams!" He grinned happily. Rose put the dressing gown back on the Doctor. "Very Arthur Dent. Now, there was a nice man. Hold on, what have I got in here?" He took a satsuma out of his pocket. Rose giggled. "A satsuma. Ah, that friend of your mothers - he does like his snacks doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas?"

They began to walk back to the door. Sierra joined them immediately. The Doctor was tossing the satsuma in the air and catching it again.

"You go through all those presents and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there's always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?" He grumbled but there was a hint of cheerfulness and amusement in his voice. Sierra laughed.

Behind them, the Sycorax Leader got to his feet. He picked up his sword, roaring, ready to charge. Without even turning around, the Doctor lobbed the satsuma at a switch on the side of the ship, causing the ground beneath the Sycorax Leader to open. He tumbled to Earth, screaming. The Doctor's smile had faded from his face.

"No second chances. I'm that sort of a man."

Back inside the Sycorax ship the Doctor was standing in front of the TARDIS with the others. He addressed the remaining Sycorax.

"By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet... when you tell them of its riches - its people - its potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It - is - defended."

* * *

The TARDIS, the Doctor, Rose, Sierra, Harriet Jones, Mickey and Alex were all teleported away, materializing on a street.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"We're just off Bloxom Road. We're just round the corner, we did it!" Mickey laughed and jumped up and down in glee. The Doctor held his hand out as the spaceship engines start up.

"Wait a minute... wait a minute..." The Time Lord mumbled. The ship took flight, back to the skies. The Doctor grinned.

"Go on, my son! Oh, yeah!" Mickey shouted. Rose jumped on his back.

"Yeah! Don't come back!"

"It is defended!"

They laughed happily, and Rose jumped off his back and hugged him. Then she ran up to a very surprised Alex, and threw her arms around him as well. The Doctor and Harriet Jones faced each other. She raised her arms, grinning.

"My Doctor."

"Prime Minister." He replied. They hugged happily.

"Absolutely the same man." The Doctor smiled and they both turned to look up at the sky. "Are there many more out there?"

"Oh, not just Sycorax. Hundreds of species. Thousands of them. And the human race is drawing attention to itself. Every day you're sending out probes and messages and signals - this planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed... more and more. You'd better get used to it."

"Rose!" Jackie was running to them.

"Mum!"

"Oh! Talking of trouble...!" The Doctor grimaced. Rose ran up to her mum who had just come down the street and hugged her.

"Oh, my God! You did it, Rose! Oh!"

The Doctor smiled, Sierra right next to him. Alex's communication device bleeped. Mickey joined Rose and Jackie.

"You did it too! It was the tea! Fixed his head!" The blonde told her mother.

"That was all I needed - cup o' tea." The Doctor grinned.

"I said so!" Jackie stated.

"Look at him!" Rose smiled.

"Is it him, though? Is it really the Doctor? Oh, my God! It's the bleeding Prime Minister!"

"Come here, you." The Doctor held out his arms to Jackie, who threw her arms around him. Rose, Sierra and Mickey joined in the group hug.

"Aww...! Are you better?" Jackie asked.

"I am, yeah!"

The four of them chatted happily amongst themselves while Alex approached Harriet, referring to the message on his communication device. Sierra turned sharply to face them.

"It's a message from Torchwood. They say they're ready." Alex told the Prime Minister. Harriet closed her eyes briefly, and then opened them again, watching the happy group standing a short way away. Sierra strode to her.

"Don't you dare, Harriet Jones, don't you dare." She almost growled to the woman as she approached. From the distance the Doctor turned and gave Harriet Jones a brief smile, which she feebly tried to return. He pondered for a second why Sierra was looking so angry at the woman but didn't get a chance to process the thought when…

"Tell them to fire." Harriet told Alex.

"Fire at will." Alex repeated the order.

"Don't!" Sierra shouted.

A beam of green light shot loudly up from the ground nearby. The same green light beamed up from another four points, and the five points met in the middle. The energy shot up into space and hit the spaceship, destroying it.

"What is that? What's happening?" Rose asked.

"That… was the end of Harriet Jones's career as a Prime Minister." Sierra said scathingly before turning away and striding into the Tardis. Jackie put her hand over her mouth. The Doctor looked unsmilingly from the sky to Harriet Jones. He walked toward her slowly.

"That was murder." He said quietly but angrily.

"That was defence. It's adapted from alien technology. A ship that fell to Earth ten years ago." Harriet answered.

"But they were leaving."

"You said yourself, Doctor. They'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth. I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today - Mr Llewellyn and the Major. They were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping. In which case - we have to defend ourselves." The Prime Minister in Harriet answered.

"Britain's Golden Age."

"It comes with a price."

"I gave them the wrong warning. I should've told them to run - as fast as they can, run and hide because the monsters are coming: the human race."

"Those are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf."

"Then I should've stopped you."

"What does that make you, Doctor? Another alien threat?"

"Don't challenge me, Harriet Jones. 'Cos I'm a completely new man. I could bring down your Government with a single word." He took a step forward.

"You're the most remarkable man I've ever met. But I don't think you're quite capable of that."

"No, you're right. Not a single word." The Doctor looked down at her silently for a few seconds. "Just six."

"I don't think so."

"Six words."

"Stop it!"

"Six." They stared at each other for a few more seconds, a battle of wills. Then the Doctor walked around her and approached Alex. He took off the man's earpiece and speak to him quietly, so Harriet Jones couldn't hear.

"_Don't you think she looks tired?"_

* * *

Sierra sat in the Tyler's living room with Mickey, Rose and Jackie who were preparing the Christmas Dinner. Mickey started to carve the turkey. The brunette smiled faintly at them. It was weird to have Christmas without her own family. It was the first Christmas like that to her and she had a feeling there would be many other ones like that. She sighed. How long would she be stuck here? Not that she didn't enjoy her time and love being there but home… It was something that could be only once for each person and her home was in another universe.

Rose was serving the sprouts at the table when the Doctor entered the flat, shutting the door behind him. Rose and Sierra both looked up. The Doctor was standing before them, smiling. They returned the smiles.

Rose screamed as the Christmas cracker she pulled with the Doctor banged. The Doctor won but he gave it to Rose anyway.

"Oh, that's yours..." He said as Rose took a pink paper party hat out of the cracker.

"It's pink! Mum, it should be yours!" Rose told Jackie.

"Pink! Lovely!" The Doctor grinned. She put the hat on, and the Doctor watched her, smiling. Rose pointed to the television.

"Look, it's Harriet Jones!"

They all turned to look at the television, the Doctor taking a pair of glasses from his pocket. Sierra slipped out of the room when the attention of all of them was elsewhere.

"_Prime Minister, is it true you are no longer fit to be in position?"_

"_No. Now, can we talk about other things?"_

The Doctor stood up and put a pair of glasses on, looking sternly at the television.

"_Is it true you're unfit for office?"_

"_Look, there is nothing wrong with my health! I don't know where these stories are coming from! And a vote of no confidence... is completely unjustified."_

The phone rang and Jackie went into the kitchen to answer it.

"_Are you going to resign?"_

"_On today of all days, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine. I look fine, I feel fine."_

"It's Beth. She says go and look outside." Jackie told them, looking back to the living room. The Doctor took his glasses off and turned back to the others.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"I dunno, just go outside and look. Come on, shift!" Jackie said, motioning them to get up.

There were lots of others outside too, as it seemed to be snowing. They laughed in delight. It looked like there were meteors in the sky. The Doctor and Rose stood beside each other, Jackie and Mickey a short way behind them. Doctor noticed Sierra standing in the doorway of the Tardis, leaning against the door frame.

"Oh, that's beautiful. What are they, meteors?" Rose asked.

"It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow, it's ash." The Time Lord told her.

"Okay, not so beautiful."

"This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now - everyone saw it. Everything's new."

"And what about you? What are you gonna do next?" The blonde asked then, avoiding his eyes.

"Well... back to the TARDIS... same old life."

"On- on your own?"

"Why, don't you wanna come?"

"Well, yeah."

"Do you, though?"

"Yeah!"

"I just thought... 'cos I changed..." He trailed off. Sierra was looking at them and giving him a weak smile before stepping into the Tardis. She had been there for him when he woke up even if she hadn't been during regeneration. She didn't care what he looked like, just let him be who he was… Not demanding to go back on who he used to be…

"Yeah, I... I thought, 'cos you changed... you might not want me anymore." Rose said uncertainly and embarrassedly, snapping the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I'd love you to come!"

"Okay!" They laughed, beaming at each other.

"You're never gonna stay, are you?" Mickey interrupted them, staring the ground. The Doctor and Rose both looked at him. Mickey raised his eyes.

"There's just so much out there. So much to see... I've got to." Rose told the boy. Mickey smiled, understanding but not remotely happy.

"Yeah."

"Well, I reckon you're mad. The pair of you. It's like you go looking for trouble." Jackie sighed.

"Trouble's just the bits in-between. It's all waiting out there, Jackie. It's brand new to me." The Doctor explained to the woman. Rose smiled. "All those planets... creatures and horizons... I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes... And it is gonna be... fantastic."

Rose smiled at the use of his old catchphrase and he grinned back and held his hand out to her.

"That hand of yours still gives me the creeps." She grinned. The Doctor grinned and wiggled his fingers persistently. She took his hand and they looked up at the sky for a few moments. Rose stepped closer to him and brushed the snow off his arm. "So, where're we gonna go first?"

"Um... that way." The Doctor pointed at a random point in the night sky. "No, hold on... that way." He pointed a smidgen to the right of his first point. Rose pointed in the same direction.

"That way?"

"Hmm?" He looked back at her. She nodded.

"Yeah. That way."

They smiled at each other for a few seconds and then gazed up at the night-sky, hand in hand.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, Sierra was pretty melancholic in the end but I guess that it's understandable in homesickness. And a bit of moments between her and Doctor. Not actual pairing though yet. This fic will be TenRose like the original series was. But they'll sync like they used to be. :)**

**Plz, read and review. New Earth is coming two week from now on. I have to concentrate on exams now. See you again!**


	2. New Earth

**A/N: I'm not dead! I just had exams and my computer was behind some nasty locks. But here's is the next chapter that should've come last Tuesday. I hope you like this one. I got to solo a bit. :)**

* * *

**1. An Old Friend**

Rose was saying goodbyes to Jackie and Mickey outside the Tardis. She had packed now and was ready to go. The Doctor peeked out of the Tardis and smiled brightly. Rose took his hand, returning the smile.

"Let's go then. Sierra is waiting for us." He said and pulled Rose a step closer to the Tardis.

"Sierra? She's there already? When did she leave?" The blonde asked.

"Some point. Probably when we watched TV. She has been here ever since." He shrugged. They waved goodbye to Jackie and Mickey and stepped into the Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Sierra was jumped off the jump seat, beaming at them. Her jacket was discarded on the railing behind her.

"Finally you came! I was getting bored. I mean, there's just so many times I can walk into the library and back without getting lost and in the way take a round in the wardrobe." She told them brightly before turning towards the console.

"Why did you disappear?" Rose asked, rather tactlessly.

"I just came here to wait for you. Where are we going now then? Some dodgy spot in the sky?"

"That's right!" The Doctor laughed and strode to Sierra. He sensed she didn't want to discuss about the matter why she left earlier and gave one look to Rose and the blonde understood not to press on. The two – the Time Lord and Human Yet Not – started working on the console, taking a direction to the 'dodgy spot in the sky'. The Time Rotor started pumping up and down. The three of them smiled.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Rose asked after a while.

"Further than we've ever gone before." The Doctor grinned.

"To a place where we can meet an old friend of ours." Sierra added with a smile on her face. Rose grinned back.

* * *

Rose, Sierra and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS onto a windy stretch of grass. Rose's mouth dropped open.

"It's the year five billion and twenty three... We're in the galaxy M87, and this... this is New Earth." the Doctor introduced the planet beneath their feet. They all were looking upon a futuristic city, with flying vehicles zooming to and from.

"That's just... that's-…" Rose stuttered before bursting out laughing, in wonder.

"Not bad. Not bad at all!" The Doctor was nodding. Sierra smiled at their faces.

"That's amazing. I'll never get used to this. Never. Different ground beneath my feet!" Rose continued. She jumped up and down excitedly. "Different sky...! What's that smell?"

The Doctor bent down and pulled some grass up. He showed it to her.

"Apple grass." He announced.

"Apple grass...!"

"Yep, apple grass." Sierra nodded.

"That's beautiful!" Rose gazed up at the Doctor with a wide smile. "Oh, I love this. Can I just say..." She linked her arm through his. "...travelling with you... I love it."

"Me too." The Doctor said. "With you both." He looked at Sierra who merely smiled. He made a note to ask her if everything was alright. Rose laughed, bringing the Time Lord's attention back her and the Doctor grinned to her. "Come on!" He grabbed the blonde's hand and they dashed off, Sierra a step behind them. She smiled sadly at their backs. This was how it would always be…

* * *

They were lying sprawled on the grass, Rose and the Doctor on his coat and Sierra right next to them since there wasn't enough space for all three of them.

"So, the year five billion… The sun expands, the Earth gets roasted." He said.

"That was our first date." Rose smiled.

"Date? More like our first life-threatening adventure in space." Sierra snorted.

"But we had chips!" The Doctor pointed out. They all giggled. "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up - oh, yeah, they get all nostalgic - big revival movement... but find this place!" He sat up for a better look at the view. "Same size as the Earth... same air... same orbit... lovely! Call goes out, the humans move in!"

"What's the city called?" Rose asked as Sierra sat up too.

"New New York." She answered.

"Oh, come on."

"It is! It's the City of New New York!" The Doctor assured the blonde. He paused then, thinking. "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original. So that makes it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York."

Rose smiled at him, reminiscing. He noticed.

"What?"

"You're so different."

"New New Doctor." He grinned. Rose giggled, Sierra snickered and the Doctor chuckled. The metal spider watched them.

"Can we go and visit New New York? So good they named it twice." Rose asked, getting up.

"Well - I thought we might go there first." The Doctor got up too and helped then Sierra while nodding towards a large building in the distance, on the coast.

"Why? What is it?" Rose asked. The Doctor was putting his coat on now some he didn't answer because of the wind made it much harder to put it on. So Rose and Sierra helped him.

"Some sort of hospital. Green moon on the side - that's the universal symbol for hospitals." He told them.

"Reminds me about Red Cross. The symbol of the organization is literally a red cross but in some countries a red crescent is used due the Islamic religion. And in some countries where religion is a touchy subject and neither cross nor crescent can be used, they use a red diamond." Sierra mused, the Doctor nodding next to her.

"That's right. You can't believe how hard it is to find a symbol and color and the combination of them that won't offend anyone…" Sierra raised her eyebrows at this. "Or at least offends as least species as possible."

"Hmm!" Rose frowned, not quite catching on.

"I got this." The Doctor said then, changing slightly the subject. He pulled out the psychic paper. "A message on the psychic paper." The words 'Ward 26 - Please Come' scrawled across the paper. "Someone wants to see me."

"And me, I got the same message while waiting for you two." Sierra smiled. Actually her message was slightly different but she couldn't show it to them without revealing Jack's identity.

"Hmm! And I thought we were just sight-seeing. Come on then! Let's go and buy some grapes." Rose linked her arm through their both, making herself walk in the middle. Sierra and the Doctor caught this slightly jealous act and looked over the blonde's head at each other, turning away then a stifling their laughter the blonde didn't notice. The spider followed them.

* * *

They walked through the hospital doors and into the reception.

"Bit rich coming from you." Rose snorted.

"I can't help it! I don't like hospitals - they give me the creeps!" The Doctor retorted.

"Seven, right?" Sierra asked. The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah."

"I wouldn't like hospitals either. Not after that." She stated and added in her mind. _"And not after this."_

"_The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors carrying green or blue identification cards for the next fifteen minutes. Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the gardens are not permitted."_

"Very smart. Not exactly NHS." Rose stated, looking around in interest.

"No shop. I like the little shop!" The Doctor whined and Sierra chuckled.

"I thought this far in the future, they'd have cured everything." The blonde continued.

"The human race moves on, but so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war." Sierra resisted the urge to roll her eyes but couldn't stop a shudder. The things going on in this hospital…

A cat nurse walked by and nodded politely to Rose, who stared at her. Sierra nudged her in the ribs and swatted her pointing hand away but she didn't care.

"They're cats." The blonde said.

"Now, don't stare... Think what you look like to them, all..." The Doctor looked her up and down. "Pink and yellow… That's where I'd put the shop!" He pointed over Rose's shoulder. "Right there!"

Whilst Rose was looking, he walked over to the lift and stepped inside. Sierra followed him, not wanting an encounter with Cassandra.

"Ward 26, thanks!" The Time Lord told the lift.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Rose rushed to the lift, but too late. The doors had already closed.

"Oh, too late. I'm going up."

"It's all right, there's another lift." The blonde told him. She rushed to the other lift and pressed the button there.

"Ward 26. And watch out for the disinfectant." The Doctor told her.

"Watch out for what?"

"The disinfectant!" Sierra and the Doctor said simultaneously.

"The what?"

"The di- oh, you'll find out." The Doctor waved his hand, ending the topic. Sierra chuckled.

"I can just imagine Jackie doing exactly the same than Rose. 'The what?'" She laughed. The Doctor joined in.

"_Commence stage one: disinfection." _Green lights flashed on and they were soaked in a shower of disinfectant. The Doctor was perfectly calm about this while Sierra…

"Bleargh…" She wrinkled her nose at the strong smell and being soaked. She managed to get the disinfectant on her mouth and ended up spitting it out. The Doctor chuckled at her and ran his hands through his hair like he's being in shower. Sierra looked at him incredulously.

A white powder is puffed onto them. The Doctor barely reacted, Sierra coughed.

A blow-dryer engaged. The Doctor looked like he was enjoying the experience immensely, spreading his coat out to dry and smiling happily. Sierra laughed too. Both at the Time Lord and at the wind.

The lift doors slid open at ward 26 and they stepped out. It was almost like the disinfectant hadn't happened. Although their hair were now much smoother and tidier.

"Here we are then." Sierra smiled, looking around. The Doctor did so too but turned then to look at her.

"Are you alright?"

"Hmh? Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She looked up at him.

"Just… you seemed sad earlier. Back on Earth." The Doctor looked away, at the ceiling. Emotion talk wasn't his strengths in this regeneration… Actually in none of them. Five had come quite close but…

"Just a bit of homesickness, nothing serious. I'm fine now." The girl smiled, the sad look in her eyes. "Spending Christmas away from home…"

"I see." He took her hand.

"Yeah, you are probably the only one who can." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you. Just being exactly who you are. Not forcing anything from yourself and just being there. My rock. My solid and steady rock I can hold on."

"I should be the one to say those words to you. Those exact words…" He squeezed her hand and they looked at each other, melancholic smiles on their faces, before proceeding to the ward.

* * *

They were lead into the ward by Sister Jatt.

"Nice place. No shop, downstairs. I'd have a shop. Not a big one - just a shop. So people can shop." The Doctor remarked. Sierra crossed her arms.

"You know, none of the hospitals I've visited had had a shop. Why there'd be? If one wants to buy something to bring to the patients they can do it elsewhere." She told the man. Sister Jatt agreed with her.

"The hospital is a place of healing." The cat said.

"A shop does some people the world of good. Not me. Other people..." The Doctor said, trailing off as they started to walk. There was a patient who was completely red. Sierra stared at it, remembering the Crimson Horror from the eight season with Eleven and Clara. "The Sisters of Plentitude take a lifelong vow to help. And to mend."

They passed a bed holding an extremely fat man looking as though he was about to turn to stone. Sierra was reminded of the Weeping Angels at the catacombs when they made Amy think her hand was turning into stone.

"Excuse me!" A prim and rather snappy woman approached the Doctor and Sierra. "Members of the public may only gaze upon the Duke of Manhattan with written permission from the Senate of New New York."

"That's Petrifold Regression, right?" The Doctor nodded towards the Duke.

"I'm dying, sir. A lifetime of charity and abstinence. And it ends like this." The Duke told him.

"Any statements made by the Duke of Manhattan may not be made public without official clearance." The woman said. Sierra resisted an urge to snort. As if they'd made anything to public. Some people really cared only about appearances. And this woman was like some lawyer. What was her name again…

"Frau Clovis!" The Duke gasped. Ah, that was her name: Frau Clovis. The said woman rushed to his side and he grasped her hand. "I'm so weak!"

"Sister Jatt! A little privacy, please!" Frau Clovis snapped. Sister Jatt lead them away.

"He'll be up and about in no time." She told the two travelers.

"I doubt it. Petrifold Regression? He's turning to stone. There won't be a cure for... oh... a thousand years? He might be up and about, but only as a statue..." The Doctor thought aloud.

"Have faith in the sisterhood. But is there no one here you recognize?" The Doctor looked around. His eye was caught. Sierra smiled and walked to the direction he was looking with a spring in her step. Sister Jatt was looking into another direction. "It's rather unusual to visit without knowing the patient."

"No. I think we've found him." The Doctor said and followed Sierra who had already kneeled in front of the glass tank of the Face of Boe, her hand pressed against the cool surface of it and a gentle smile on her face.

"Novice Hame - if I can leave this gentleman and young lady in your care?" Sister Jatt asked the other, younger, cat nurse.

"Oh, I think our friend got lost. Uh - Rose Tyler. Could you ask at reception?" The Doctor requested the older cat.

"Certainly, sir." She left. Novice Hame and the Doctor looked at the Face of Boe.

"I'm afraid the Face of Boe's asleep. That's all he tends to do these days. Are you a friend, or...?" Novice Hame asked.

"We met just the once on Platform One. What's wrong with him?" The Doctor frowned.

"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew. The Face of Boe is dying."

"Of what?"

"Old age. The one thing we can't cure. He's thousands of years old. Some people say millions. Although, that's impossible."

"Oh, no... I like impossible." There was a smile on the Time Lord's face. He kneeled before the Face of Boe, next to Sierra. "I'm here. I look a bit different, but it's me... it's the Doctor..." He placed a hand on the tank. The Face of Boe sighed.

"He is not impossible. Impossible would be wrong. He's just a bit improbable." Sierra said quietly. "Hello, old friend. I'm here. And I'll always be when you need me."

* * *

"_Hope, harmony and health. Hope, harmony and health."_

The Doctor crossed the ward and gave Novice Hame a glass of water.

"That's very kind. But there's no need." She thanked.

"You're the one working." He said, going to the window.

"There's not much to do. Just maintain his smoke. And I suppose I'm company. I can hear him singing, sometimes. In my mind... such ancient songs..."

"Are we the only visitors?"

"The rest of Boe-kind became extinct. Long ago. He's the only one left. Legend says that the Face of Boe has watched the universe grow old. There's all sorts of superstitions around him. One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his great secret. That he will speak those words only to ones like himself."

"What does that mean?" The Doctor frowned.

"It's just a story." Novice Hame said.

"Tell me the rest."

"It's said he'll talk to two wanderers. To the man without a home and the girl far away from hers."

The Doctor recognized himself and Sierra in the sentence. He spared a glance at Sierra who hadn't moved at all during the minutes they had been by the glass tank. She was just silently watching the Face, waiting for him to wake up.

"The lonely God and even lonelier girl."

* * *

While waiting for the Face of Boe to wake up, the Doctor called Rose.

"Rose, where are you?" He asked when the blonde(Cassandra now) answered.

"_Uhm... wotcha..."_

"Where've you been? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?"

"_I'm on my way, governor. I shall proceed up the Apples and Pears."_

"You'll never guess. I'm with the Face of Boe! Remember him?"

"_Course I do... that big old... boat... race..."_

"I'd better go. See you in a minute." He replaced the receiver. The Duke of Manhattan was laughing behind him. He and Frau Clovis both had a glass of champagne.

"Didn't think I was going to make it!" The Duke told everyone around. The Doctor stepped into view. "It's that man again!" The Doctor smiled, scratching his ear absent-mindedly. "He's my good luck charm! Come in! Don't be shy!"

"Any friendship expressed by the Duke of Manhattan does not constitute a form of legal contract." Frau Clovis told the Time Lord.

"Winch me up." The duke gave the Doctor the thumbs up. Frau Clovis pressed a button on a remote and the bed tilted forwards. "Ah! Look at me! No sign of infection!"

"Champagne, sir?" A waiter asked the Doctor.

"No thanks. Uh... you had Petrifold Regression, right?"

"That being the operative word! Past tense! Completely cured." The Duke boomed and laughed joyfully.

"But that's impossible."

"Primitive species would accuse us of magic, but it's merely the tender application of science." Matron Casp told the Doctor.

"How on Earth did you cure him?" He was staring at her dumbfounded.

"How on New Earth, you might say." The Matron corrected.

"What's in that solution?" He nodded towards the drip.

"A simple remedy." Came the simple answer.

"Then tell me what it is."

"I'm sorry. Patient confidentiality. I don't believe we've met. My name is Matron Casp."

"I'm the Doctor."

"I think you'll find that we're the Doctors here."

"Matron Casp, you're needed in intensive care." Sister Jatt told the older woman.

"If you would excuse me."

The Doctor nodded to her and she left with Sister Jatt. He watched them walk away.

* * *

The Face of Boe was stirring. Sierra held her breath. She didn't even notice how Cassandra/Rose entered to the ward and how the Doctor explained her about the patients around and their miraculous getting-betters. She didn't even care when they went to find the Intensive Care ward.

One big eye opened slightly, closed and then the both eyes opened. Sierra smiled.

"Hello, Jack…" She whispered. A hint of a smile appeared on Boe's lips and Sierra felt she was pulled forwards. She actually stayed still but her mind was being pulled. It wasn't rough and didn't hurt. It was more like being guided through a door into a place full of sunlight although she would probably compare it being stepped into a warm bath.

And there he was, like she remembered him. Standing straight and watching the scenery below them, his WWII greatcoat flapping in the wind. They were in Cardiff, in 21st century Cardiff, standing on the roof of the Millennium Centre. Sun was shining through silvery grey clouds, like it was right after rain.

"Where are we?" Sierra asked.

"Inside my mind. We can talk much privately now than in normal telepathy." He answered and turned to look at her, giving her that dazzling smile that made the most beings swoon. She walked closer and took his hand.

"The best years of your life?" She asked, looking around. "Before 4-5-6?"

"Before that, yeah. Actually even before Exit Wounds, like you dubbed it." They both looked ahead and sat down then, keeping their gazes from each other.

"I see."

"I've missed you. And the Doctor. And everyone else."

"Must be hard… Outliving everyone else. Being the oldest being in existence."

"Yeah, harder than you can imagine."

"You know… It can end. It will end. When we see for the next time." Jack looked down at her and she looked back at him.

"I know. I found out some time ago."

"The last time we will meet…" Sierra squeezed his hand.

"It's a relief actually. I don't know how long I could've gone on. One eternity has already been enough."

"I can understand it. And when you die… you'll see Ianto. I know you have missed him the most." The looked at each other, sad smiles on their faces.

"Like I promised, I never forgot him… God, how I miss him." Jack brought his free hand on his mouth and seemed to be holding back tears. His whole body trembled and his eyes narrowed. One name made it happen. It was like the shell he had built over the years and kept inside it was breaking apart. But it was also like he had been waiting for it to happen. Waiting for someone to come and break it. And she was the only one who knew everything about him and could come this far in future and do it.

"It's alright." Sierra whispered and enveloped him into a gentle embrace as he broke down.

* * *

It took minutes to them until Jack calmed down. He looked up her still slightly curled against his own legs. Sierra looked at him and smiled gently. He returned the smile vaguely and looked at the scenery then. It was same, except there was a bit more clouds.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome." She was about to continue but right then…

"_This building is under quarantine."_

"What's that?" Sierra looked around.

"Something must be going on at the hospital." Jack realized. "You need to go back."

"Yeah."

Sierra was pulled backwards now. The warm feeling disappeared and she found herself back on the ward 26, in front of the glass tank, still on her knees. Her knees hurt now. She got on her feet with a groan and looked back at the Face of Boe.

"I'll be back."

"_Repeat: this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat..."_

* * *

Sierra ran towards the doors of the ward only to find them locked and the zombies from the Intensive Care against them, trying to pry their way in.

Time passed too slowly until the Doctor and Rose/Cassandra came back to the ward 26. Sierra barely held her laughter when she was Frau Clovis brandishing a chair at them menacingly, roaring like a wild animal.

"We're safe! We're safe! We're safe. We're clean! We're clean! Look, look-." The Doctor told the woman.

"Show me your skin." Frau Clovis demanded and the Doctor did.

"Look! Clean. Look, if we'd been touched, we'd be dead." He told her. Frau Clovis nodded and put the chair down.

"Doctor!" Sierra ran to hug him. "Thank god you are alright." She pulled apart and came a searching look to Rose/Cassandra. She scowled at the blonde. "Cassandra." There was barely a nod.

"And you know how?" Cassandra asked scathingly.

"I just do. And don't even think about getting into my head." Sierra glared at her and Cassandra, probably remembering from Platform One, decided not to even try it.

"So, how's it going up here? What's the status?" The Doctor broke the glaring contest between the two seemingly nineteen-year-old girls. Frau Clovis was the one to answer him.

"There's nothing but silence from the other wards. I think we're the only ones left. And I've been trying to override the quarantine." She fiddled with a small device she was holding. "If I can trip a signal over to New New York, they can send a private executive squad."

"You can't do that. If they force entry, they'd break quarantine."

"I am not dying in here."

"We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There is ten million people in that City, they'd all be at risk! Now, turn that off!"

"Not if it gets me out."

"All right, fine. So I have to stop you lot as well. Suits me. Sierra. Rose. Novice Hame. Everyone! Excuse me your grace- get me intravenous solutions for every single disease. Move it!"

Everyone gathered all the solutions. The Doctor tied a rope around his body and Sierra attached the solutions to it so they hang off him with the help from Cassandra/Rose.

"How's that? Will that do?" He asked then.

"I don't know! Will it do for what?" Cassandra asked.

"It will." Sierra said confidently and the Doctor smiled to her before turning around and opening the doors to the lift with the Sonic Screwdriver.

"The lifts aren't working." Cassandra pointed out. The Doctor peered down the shaft.

"Not moving. Different thing." He stepped right back, ready for a running jump. "Here we go." He stuck the Sonic Screwdriver between his teeth and ran. Sierra rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't he put it back into his pocket?" She mumbled.

"But you're not going to-." Cassandra started but the Doctor had already jumped into the middle of the shaft and clung now on the rope. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm going down!" He told her and fixed up the wench with his sonic screwdriver. "Come on!"

"Not in a million years." Cassandra stated.

"I need another pair of hands. What do you think? If you're so desperate to stay alive... Why don't you live a little?"

"I'm coming." Sierra said as she saw more zombies emerging from the quarantine. She jumped… past the Doctor…

"Sierra!"

"'Tis fine!" She shouted upwards as she twisted upside down for a second and flipped then back upright. She pressed a button of some gadget she had on her belt and her fall stopped right before the bottom of the lift shaft. She pressed the button again, allowing her feet to touch the bottom now. Sierra looked up to see Cassandra/Rose jumping into the lift shaft too and onto the Doctor's back with a regretful moan.

"_You're completely mad. I can see why she likes you."_

"_Going down!"_ Their voices echoed ever so slightly. They whizzed down the shaft, screaming. Sierra had to cover her ears. They straightened themselves out when they reach the bottom.

"Well, that's one way to lose weight" Cassandra quipped.

"Now, listen… When I say so, take hold of that lever. You too, Sierra." The Doctor told them. "And never do that again. I'm going to confiscate that Anti-Gravi device you used." He added to the brunette and plucked it from her belt. Sierra rolled her eyes with a huff.

"There's still a quarantine down there, we can't-." Cassandra started but the Doctor interrupted her.

"Hold that lever!" Cassandra backed down. "I'm cooking up a cocktail. I know a bit about medicine myself." The Doctor ripped the tops of the packets of each solution with his teeth and skirted them into the clear container where the disinfectant for the lift should go. Sierra helped him, not with teeth but with her laser knife. "Now, that lever's going to resist. But keep it in position." He opened a trapdoor in the top of the lift. "Hold onto it with everything you've got."

"What about you?" Cassandra asked.

"I've got an appointment. The Doctor is in." He dropped down into the lift and opened the doors. "I'm in here, come on!" He yelled to the zombies in the floor.

"Don't tell them!" Cassandra shrieked.

"Pull that lever!" Sierra and Cassandra pulled it. The infected people staggered towards the lift. "Come and get me, come on! I'm in here, come on!"

"_Commence stage one: disinfection."_

"Hurry up, come on!" He beckoned them towards him. The solution showered into the lift, soaking him. "Come on, come on."

The infected people stumbled into the shower and were also soaked with the medicine.

"All they wanna do is pass it on. Pass it on!"

"Pass on what? Pass on what?!" Cassandra asked in confusion.

"The solution! The cure!" Sierra grinned widely.

"Pass it on!"

The infected people touched each other, and passed on their good health. The boils began to disappear. The Doctor grinned manically. Cassandra jumped down into the lift with the Doctor's help, followed closely by Sierra.

"What did they pass on? Did you kill them? All of them?" Cassandra asked. Sierra frowned at her.

"No. That's your way of doing things." She snapped. The Doctor nodded and walked into the midst of the not-anymore-infected people.

"I'm the Doctor and I cured them." He told them. The new humans looked around at their surroundings, slightly child-like. A woman came up to the Doctor and hugged him. "That's right! Hey, hey! There we go, sweetheart! Ay? Look at him..." He ushered her off to sit with someone. "Go on, that's it! That's it! It's a new sub-species, Cassandra!" He took a man by the shoulders and looked at him. "A brand new form of life! New Humans! Look at them, look!" He bended down to look at them with a huge smile on his face. "Grown by cats... kept in the dark, fed by tubes... but completely, completely alive!" He turned around to point at Cassandra. "You can't deny them, because you helped create them."

Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"The human race just keeps on going. Keeps on changing. Life will out! Ha!" The Doctor ended his speech gleefully.

"_This is the NNYPD. Please step away from the shuttles."_ A voice said from outside. Sierra sighed.

"Here we go then…"

* * *

The hospital was swarming with police officers when the Doctor (still wet and in shirtsleeves), Sierra and Cassandra emerged back onto the ward.

"_All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest. I repeat: immediate arrest. All new life forms will be catalogued and taken into care."_

Novice Hame was led away by a police officer. She caught the Doctor's eye. He didn't smile to her.

"_All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD."_

The Doctor's head jerked up, suddenly remembering: "The Face of Boe!" He dashed off again, Sierra right behind him. Cassandra rolled her eyes before following the two.

* * *

The Doctor approached the Face of Boe who looked very much alive and well.

"You were supposed to be dying." The Time Lord smiled.

"_There are better things to do today. Dying can wait."_ Came the telepathic answer. Sierra smiled at the warmness and familiarity.

"Oh, I hate telepathy. Just what I need, a head full of big face." Cassandra complained behind them.

"Shut it!" Sierra snapped and gave her a death glare. Cassandra took a step back.

"_I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew."_

"There are legends you know, saying that you're millions of years old." The Doctor said quietly while kneeling in front of Boe.

"_There are? That would be impossible."_ The ancient man laughed.

"Wouldn't it just? I got the impression... there was something you wanted to tell me..."

"_A great secret."_

"A secret that shouldn't have been found. It just gives hope before breaking everything completely apart." Sierra sighed.

"_Yes, it was like that…"_

"Don't tell me more." Sierra sat down and crossed her legs. "I want to live it through only once and find out on my own."

"_I wish you didn't need to."_ Her oldest friend sighed and closed his eyes for a second. _"It was the hardest for you."_

"Don't tell me more." Sierra muttered, eyes darkened. She didn't want to know. Not even one more word. She didn't want to worry about it before she really had to. The Doctor looked at her worriedly before turning back towards Boe.

"So the legend says… A secret." He said a bit awkwardly.

"_It can wait."_

"Oh, does it have to?" The Time Lord asked and noticed Sierra stiffening next to him.

"_We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time... for the last time... and the truth shall be told. Until that day..." _He teleported himself away.

"That is enigmatic. That… that is… that is textbook enigmatic." The Doctor almost stuttered. Sierra chuckled but there wasn't as must humor as she usually had. He nodded to himself, stood up and helped Sierra on her feet too before facing Cassandra, who had been examining her nails, completely disinterested in the proceedings. "And now for you."

"But... everything's happy. Everything's fine... can't you just leave me?" Cassandra asked, her voice faltered under Sierra's glare.

"You've lived long enough. Leave that body and end it, Cassandra." The Doctor said sternly.

"I don't want to die!"

"No one does."

"_Except Jack…"_ Sierra thought silently.

"Help me!"

"I can't."

Chip appeared, making Cassandra gasp.

"Mistress!" Ha called in relief.

"Ah! You're alive!"

"I kept myself safe. For you, mistress."

"A body... and not just that, a volunteer..."

"Don't you dare. He's got a life of his own." The Doctor growled.

"But I worship the mistress!" Chip put in. Cassandra winked at him. "I welcome her."

"You can't, Cassandra, you-…" The Doctor didn't get any further when the whisp of smoky thing that was Cassandra leaped from Rose to Chip's body. Rose fell forward with a gasp, and the Doctor lunged to catch her. "Oh! You all right?" He asked the blonde.

Rose paused and losed her balance again.

"Whoa! Okay?"

"Yeah…" The blonde said shakily. After a moment she finally got her bearings and gathered herself together… to find herself staring right at the Doctor. She smiled. "Hello!"

"Hello. Welcome back." The Doctor smiled back. Rose gazed up at him, smiling, when they were distracted again by Cassandra.

"Oh, sweet Lord. I'm a walking doodle." The woman scoffed.

"You can't stay in there. I'm sorry, Cassandra, but that's not fair. I can take you to the City. They can build you a skin tank and you can stand trial for what you've done." The Doctor told her.

"Well, that would be rather dramatic. Possibly my finest hour. And certainly my finest hat." Cassandra mused. The Doctor and Rose glanced at each other. Sierra stared the ceiling, not paying attention anymore. "But I'm afraid we don't have time. Poor little Chip is only a half-life. And he's been through so much. His heart is racing so. He's failing. I don't think he's going to last-…"

Her legs gave way. Rose and the Doctor lunged forward to support him.

"You all right?" The Doctor asked.

"I'm fine." She paused. The Doctor and Rose stared at her in concern. "I'm dying. But that's fine."

"I can take you to the City." The Time Lord offered.

"No, you won't. Everything's new on this planet. There's no place for Chip and me anymore. You're right, Doctor. It's time to die. And that's good."

The Doctor and Rose helped her to her feet.

"Come on. There's one last thing I can do." The Doctor said quietly and they lead her away, Sierra following them from distance.

* * *

The TARDIS materialized with a soft hum. The Doctor stepped out of the doors, followed by Cassandra/Chip and Rose. Sierra stepped out too, rather reluctantly though. They were landed at the place on the tape Cassandra was playing, at the party. Cassandra, as a proper human being was laughing and talking, the life and soul of the party. Cassandra/Chip turned to the Doctor.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"Just go. And don't look back." The Doctor told her softly.

"Good luck." Rose said.

"…It's gonna be alright." Sierra said dully, not looking at either of them. She didn't want her emotions overtake her now. Neither of them commented it.

Cassandra/Chip walked into the midst of the party, up to human-Cassandra. She's smiling, watching her, what she used to be.

"And if you'd actually seen them, they were shocked! But don't quote me on that. Oh, naughty. À bientôt!" Human-Cassandra walked away from the group of people she was talking to and Cassandra/Chip approached her cautiously.

"Excuse me... Lady Cassandra..."

"I'm sorry, I don't need anything right now. I'm fine, thank you." She turned away.

"No… I just wanted to say... you look beautiful."

Human- Cassandra looks at her.

"Well. That's very kind, you strange little thing. Thank you very much." She smiled.

"I mean it." Cassandra/Chip stepped forward and looks straight into her eyes. "You look... so beautiful." She said sincerely. Human-Cassandra stares at her, touched.

"Thank you."

Cassandra/Chip's eyelids fluttered closed and she keeled over.

"Oh, my Lord. Are you alright? What is it? What's wrong? Someone get some help!" Human-Cassandra gathered the other into her arms. "Call a medic or something, quickly!"

"Who is he?"

"I don't know. He just came up to me. I don't even know his name. He just collapsed. I think he's dying. Someone do something! I've got you, sweetheart... it's all right..."

Rose looked close to tears, and the Doctor was watching solemnly. Sierra still kept her gaze pointedly away from the scene but tears were freely flowing down her cheeks.

"There you are... there you are, I've got you... it'll be all right. There, there, you poor little thing..." Human-Cassandra rocked her broken and dying future gently.

The Doctor and Rose walked slowly back to the TARDIS. The Doctor paused for one last look before following Rose through the doors. Sierra stepped in a bit after them. The doors closed behind them and the Tardis dematerialized.

* * *

**A/N: Here you are. I hope yoyu liked this one bacause I was bloody crying during writing this and this took me flipping forever! Oh, and now I'm in Donna-mode or something... Anyways, please review. I need something to cheer me up and get me back to writing...**

**And by the way. I got a question about having a polyvore sometime ago. No I don't have one I won't make one but if you go to Deviantart and search Tsukiko75014 and from there you go to the folder labelled "Doctor Who -related art" you'll find Sierra's outfic throughout the first and second seasons and some of third season clothes too.**

**See you again in two weeks!**


	3. Werewolves!

**A/N: I'm sorry I'm late. I blame school. It made me too busy on Tuesday and Wednesday... But anyways here is now the newest chapter. As you can see(if I remember correctly) Sierra and Rose's relationship is becoming a bit strained. It's partly because I'm personally sometimes a bit annoyed with Rose and my feelings are mirrored on Sierra. and on Rose's part she must be thinking that Sierra is trying to take Doctor from her even though she is not. Oh, just wait for School Reunion...**

**But let's not get ahead of things before its their time.**

* * *

**2. The Foundation of Torchwood**

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was holding a CD, whilst Rose finished zipping her bag up and shoved it out of the way. Sierra was lounging in the jump seat, watching them in amusement. Rose stood up; showing the Doctor what she was wearing (a rather short dungaree skirt).

"What do you think of this? Will it do?" She asked.

"In the late 1970s? You'd be better off in a bin bag. Hold on, listen to this." The Doctor bunged the CD in the player and a song Sierra had never before heard blared out. "Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Number One in 1979."

"You're a Punk!" Rose laughed.

"It's good to be a lunatic…" The Doctor sang along the song. Sierra laughed loudly and almost toppled off the chair.

"That's what you are. A big old Punk with a bit of Rockabilly thrown in." Rose chuckled.

"Would you like to see him?" The Doctor asked the blonde whose mouth dropped open.

"How'd you mean? In concert?"

"What else is a TARDIS for?" They did a funky little dance around the console. "I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar... the first anti-gravity Olympics... Caesar crossing the Rubicon... or... Ian Dury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November, 1979. What do you think?"

"Sheffield it is!" Rose announced. This time Sierra stifled her laughter: they were going to end up on totally different year! And didn't the Doctor mention the anti-gravity Olympics? He'd participate in them at some point in his future. He mentioned it while making the Internet-thingy to go and save Clara **(A/N: The Bells of Saint John)**. Hmm…

"Hold on tight." The Doctor advised the two girls and Sierra was brought back to reality. He pulled a lever and they all lurched forward as the TARDIS shuddered and spun through the Vortex. The Doctor whacked the console with a hammer to the beat off the music, shouting.

"Stop!" Rose yelled. The movement stopped and they both fell on the floor, laughing their heads off. Sierra was clinging on the chair she had just barely managed to stay seated on.

"1979. Hell of a year!" The Doctor bounced up. He pulled Rose to her feet and they bounded towards the doors. Sierra jumped off the jump seat and hurried after them, but not after making sure she had her bag with her.

"China invades Vietnam... The Muppet Movie! Love that film. Margaret Thatcher... urgh... Skylab falls to Earth... with a little help from me... nearly took off my thumb." The Doctor continued, pulling on his coat.

* * *

The Doctor stepped out of the doors, Rose and Sierra behind him. The Time Lord continued talking. Sierra cleared her throat but he didn't notice it.

"I like my thumb. I need my thumb. I'm very attached to..." He faltered as he noticed that they were surrounded by Scottish soldiers on all sides, guns raised. He put his hands up and Rose followed suit. Sierra stuck her hands in the pockets of her long coat she had draped over her long dress that suited the era much better than Rose's clothes. "... my thumb."

The guns clicked ominously.

"1879. Same difference." He glanced at Sierra. "You knew, didn't you?"

She just shrugged with a wide amused smile.

"You will explain your presence. And the nakedness of this girl." Captain of the soldier group demanded. Rose looked down at herself.

"Are we in Scotland?" The Doctor asked, switching into the Scottish accent.

"How can you be ignorant of that?"

"Oh, I'm- I'm dazed and confused. We've been chasing this... this wee naked child over hill and over dale. In't that right, ya... timorous beastie?" He glanced at Rose.

"Ooch, aye! I've been oot and aboot." The blonde answered, with a terrible attempt of mimicking Scottish.

"No, don't do that."

"Hoots mon!"

"No, really don't. Really."

Rose opened her mouth to argue once more but Sierra gave her a look.

"Lass, be quiet. There's gentlemen here." The blonde just stared at her, stunned by the brunette's much better Scottish. Sierra merely smiled.

"Will you identify yourself, sir?" The Captain asked the Doctor now.

"I'm Doctor James McCrimmon. From the... Township of Balamory. Eh... I have my credentials, if I may..." He gestured towards his pocket and the Captain nodded. The Doctor and Rose both lowered their hands whilst he fumbled in his pocket and produced the psychic paper. He showed it to them. "As you can see, a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself."

"Let them approach." A female voice from the carriages nearby told them.

"I don't think that's wise, ma'am." The Captain said, still suspicious.

"Let them approach." The voice repeated. The Doctor gestured towards the carriage and the Captain had no choice but to let them approach.

"You will approach the carriage. And show all due deference."

The Doctor did an 'aye aye, Captain' sort of signal, and he and Rose approached the carriage. Sierra looked at the soldiers briefly before following. One of the footmen opened the door to reveal Queen Victoria.

"Sierra, Rose - might I introduce her Majesty Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith." The Doctor told them. Sierra was speechless while Rose curtseyed and introduced herself. Sierra followed the suit.

"Rose Tyler, Ma'am. And my apologies... for being so naked." The blonde laughed nervously.

"Sierra Adler, it's an honor to meet your Majesty." The brunette said and tossed then her long coat to Rose. "Put it on, lass, you'll freeze otherwise." Rose shot her a glare but obliged. The girl was right after all: there was rather nippy Scottish breeze around and Sierra already had a warm and covering dress.

"I've had five daughters. It's nothing to me. But you, Doctor... show me these credentials." The Queen told the travelers. The Doctor obligingly handed the psychic paper over, and the Queen studied it for a moment. "Why didn't you say so immediately? It states clearly here that you have been appointed by the Lord Provost as my Protector."

"Does it? Yes, it does! Good! Good! Um… then let me ask… why is Your Majesty travelling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen?" The Doctor questioned.

"A tree on the line." Came the brisk reply.

"An accident?"

"I am the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Everything around me tends to be planned."

"Most likely not then…" Sierra shrugged, adjusting her now-green-and-velvety shoulder bag better now when she didn't have her coat anymore.

"An assassination attempt?" The Doctor guessed, eyes widening slightly.

"What, seriously? There's people out to kill ya?" Rose exclaimed.

"Duh, the Royalties are always on the line of fire, whether it's on the time of peace or war." Sierra sighed.

"That's right, young lady, and I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun." The Queen nodded her in acknowledgment. Sierra blushed slightly.

"Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence. We'll send word ahead, he'll shelter us for tonight, then we can reach Balmoral tomorrow." The captain from earlier, Reynolds, said behind them, from his horse.

"This Doctor and his... timorous beastie will come with us. As well as the young lady with them." Queen Victoria told him.

"Yes, Ma'am. We'd better get moving: it's almost nightfall."

"Indeed. And there are stories of wolves in these parts. Fanciful tales intended to scare the children. But good for the blood, I think. Drive on!" Queen Victoria sat back inside the carriage and the door was closed. Rose grinned at the Doctor and they went on their way. Sierra, Rose and the Doctor walked behind the carriage.

"It's funny though, 'cos you say 'assassination' and you just think of Kennedy and stuff. Not her." Rose told the Time Lord.

"1879 - she's had... oo... six attempts on her life? And I'll tell you something else: we just met Queen Victoria!" He grinned.

"I know!"

"What a laugh!"

"Quite a shock actually." Sierra said and shook her head then. After everything she had seen… Daleks? Fine. Creepy kid? Okay. Medicine zombies? Easy. Slitheen? A laugh. Things so impossible yet hadn't fazed her at all, she froze when she met Queen Victoria. (The Queen? Freeze.)

"She was just sitting there!" Rose laughed.

"Like a stamp."

"I want her to say…" The blonde put on an affected upper-classed accent. "…'we are not amused'. I bet you five quid I can make her say it."

"Well, if I gambled on that, it'd be an abuse of my privileges of traveller in time." The Doctor stated.

"I'm not in." Sierra said simply.

"...Ten quid?"

"Done."

"Still not in… By the way… Was it just me or did she take a liking on me?"

* * *

They arrived at the Torchwood Manor and one of the footmen opened the door of the carriage and helped Queen Victoria down. Sir Robert emerged from a doorway and approaches her, Father Angelo right behind him.

"Your Majesty." The owner of the manor greeted the Queen and bowed.

"Sir Robert. My apologies for the emergency. And how is Lady Isobel?" Queen Victoria asked politely.

"She's... indisposed, I'm afraid. She's gone to Edinburgh for the season. And she's taken the cook with her - the kitchens are barely stocked... I wouldn't blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride on."

The Doctor cocked his head to one side, watching him, recognizing that Sir Robert would rather the Queen stayed away. He looked at Sierra who didn't nod nor shook her head, just glared slightly Father Angelo.

"Oh, not at all! I've had quite enough carriage exercise. And this is... charming. If rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often. The Torchwood Estate. Now, shall we go inside?" The Queen said cheerfully. Sir Robert was evidently reluctant, but the Queen didn't notice that. "And please excuse the naked girl. She has some coverage now though."

"Sorry." Rose mumbled.

"She's a feral child. I bought her for sixpence in old London Town. It was her or the Elephant Man, so..."

"Thinks he's funny but I'm so not amused." Rose sighed and looked pointedly at Queen Victoria. "What do you think, Ma'am?"

"It hardly matters. Shall we proceed?" Came the stiff reply. Sir Robert nodded and they began to make their way into the house.

"So close." Rose muttered to the Doctor and Sierra.

"Rose, you'll just end up making a fool on yourself." The brunette sighed and took some quick steps so she was walking a bit before the other two.

"Makerson and Ramsey, you will escort the Property. Hurry up." Captain Reynolds was barking orders.

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir." Came the replies. One of the soldiers took a small wooden box from the carriage and carried it carefully to the house.

"What's in there, then?" The Doctor asked a great interest in his voice.

"Property of the Crown. You will dismiss any further thoughts, sir." Captain told him and addressed the other soldiers then. "The rest of you go to the rear of the house. Assume your designated positions."

"You heard the orders. Positions, sir."

The Doctor nodded towards the house and he and Rose followed Sierra and the others.

* * *

Sir Robert entered the Observatory, followed by the Queen, Sierra, Rose, the Doctor, Father Angelo and two of the Monks (who were disguised as household staff). An enormous telescope was in the middle of the room.

"This, I take it, is the famous Endeavour." The Queen asked.

"All my father's work. Built by hand in his final years. Became something of an obsession - he spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself." Sir Robert answered. The Doctor smiled.

"I wish I'd met him, I like him. That thing's beautiful - can I um...?" He gestured towards the telescope.

"Help yourself."

The Doctor, Sierra and Rose moved forward to examine the telescope and the wheel next to it.

"What did he model it on?" The Time Lord asked.

"I know nothing about it. To be honest, most of us thought him a little... shall we say, eccentric. I wish now I'd spent more time with him. And listened to his stories." Sir Robert glanced at the Queen.

"It's a bit rubbish." The Doctor muttered, peering through the telescope. "How many prisms has it got? Way too many. The magnification's gone right over the top, that's stupid kind of a - am I being rude again?"

"Yep." Rose answered.

"But it's pretty! It's very... pretty." The Doctor added quickly. Rose patted him fondly on the arm while Sierra chuckled.

"And the imagination of it should be applauded." Queen Victoria commented.

"Mm! Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty. Stargazing. Isn't that a bit fanciful?" Rose asked and Queen Victoria just stared at her. "You could easily... not be amused, or something...? No?"

"This device surveys the infinite work of God."

The Doctor shook his head at Rose with a vague smile on his face.

"What could be finer? Sir Robert's father was an example to us all. A polymath. Steeped in astronomy and sciences, yet equally well versed in folklore and fairytales."

"Stars and magic. I like him more and more." The Doctor smiled. He wandered around the telescope to examine it some more.

"Oh, my late husband enjoyed his company." The Queen told him and then turned to Sierra. "Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe Coburg."

"That's Bavaria." The Doctor whispered to Rose, clarifying things. Sierra just nodded to the Queen.

"When Albert was told about your local wolf, he was transported." The Queen said to Sir Robert. Now when her attention was away from the girls, Sierra leaned over to Rose and whispered:

"You are trying too hard."

"Hmph."

"So, what's this wolf, then?" The Doctor asked, interrupting the girls, once again.

"It's just a story." Sir Robert told them.

"Then tell it."

Sir Robert glanced around at Father Angelo very uncomfortably. "It's said that-…"

"Excuse me, sir. Perhaps her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark." Father Angelo interrupted. Sierra glared him.

"Of course. Yes, of course." Sir Robert agreed.

"And then supper. And... could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler? I'm tired of nakedness." Queen Victoria said.

"It's not am-…" Rose didn't have a chance to continue when Sierra clamped her hand on the blonde's mouth.

"Shut it." The brunette hissed. Queen Victoria glanced at them but decided to ignore the situation and turned back to Sir Robert. The Doctor muttered something to Rose who poked him in the chest. Sierra removed her hand on the blonde's mouth by then.

"Sir Robert, your wife must've left some clothes. See to it. We shall dine at seven. And talk some more of this wolf. After all... there is a full moon tonight."

"So there is, Ma'am." He bowed, and the Queen left the room followed by the others.

* * *

Rose went to one of the wardrobes of the bedroom and opened the door, finding a brown dress which she held up to herself in the mirror. She almost immediately put it back. Sierra who was sitting on the bed, her coat folded on her lap, laughed.

"It's kinda pretty but definitely not your style."

"I agree." Rose held a frilly blouse up to herself now, laughs, and put it back in the wardrobe.

"I wouldn't be even caught dead while wearing that. Too frilly." Sierra mock-shuddered. Rose laughed. She took out a pretty blue dress and held it up to herself and twirled around a bit.

"I like this one." The blonde smiled.

"I like it too. Maybe I'll take it and you can get mine." The brunette gestured her deep green velvet dress.

"No way. I'll rather take this one, thank you very much." Rose placed the dress down on the bed.

"Oh, right, this probably wouldn't even fit you. Considering you are so short." Sierra smirked.

"Shut it." Rose crossed the room and opened another wardrobe door. She screamed. Sierra stared: she had forgotten this bit. A young maid, Flora, was crouched inside the wardrobe, breathing heavily with fear.

* * *

The three girls were sitting on the bed.

"They came through the house. The incitements, they took the Steward and the Master. And my Lady." Flora told them nervously. Rose squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Listen, I've got a friend, he's called the Doctor. He'll know what to do. You've gotta come with me." The blonde told the maid.

"Oh, but I can't, Miss."

"What's your name?" Sierra asked gently"

"Flora."

"Flora, we'll be safe. There's more people arrived downstairs, soldiers and everything, and they can help us. I promise. Come on. Okay? Come on." Rose got up and walked to the door. She peered cautiously out of the door and seeing that the coast is clear, took Flora's hand and lead her down the corridor. Sierra followed them. They turned around the corner and saw one of the guards lying there, unconscious.

"Oh, Miss. I did warn you!" Flora said desperately. Sierra kneeled down and touched carefully the guard's neck to feel a pulse.

"He isn't dead, most likely just drugged." She straightened up. "Something fishy is going on here."

Suddenly Flora was grabbed from behind by Father Angelo and his hand stifled a scream. While she was dragged away, and before Rose or Sierra could react, the blonde was also grabbed and dragged away. Sierra reached inside her bag for the cricket bat but before she got it out, she was grabbed too. She saw one of the Monks dragging the guard away. Father Angelo stepped over his body and went through a door into the dining room.

* * *

There were in the cellar of the Torchwood house. The Host was sitting quietly in his cage. Sierra looked at him curiously from her spot.

"Don't make a sound. They said if we scream or shout, then he will slaughter us." Lady Isobel told the three girls.

"But... he's in a cage. He's a prisoner. He's the same as us." Rose frowned in confusion.

"He's nothing like us. That creature is not mortal." The Lady said fearfully. The Host raised his head slowly and opened his eyes which were completely black. Lady Isobel and her household staff whimpered, Sierra blinked slowly and Rose stared, scared.

* * *

Time passed. Rose stood up and approached the Host. Sierra looked after her lazily, not bothering to comment the blonde's actions.

"Don't, child." Lady Isobel whispered but Rose ignored her. She edged slowly towards the Host, chains rattling slightly. When she was as close as the chains allowed her, she kneeled down before the cage.

"Who are you?" She asked softly.

"Don't enrage him." One of the servants warned her.

"Where are you from? You're not from Earth. What planet are you from?" Rose continued, ignoring the quiet protests of the house staff.

"Ohhh... intelligence..." The Host said almost mockingly.

"Where were you born?"

"This body... ten miles away... a weakling, heartsick boy. Stolen away at night by the brethren from my cultivation. I carved out his soul and sat in his heart." The Host told them. Sierra shuddered inwardly.

"All right..." Rose said slowly. "So the body's human... but what about you? The thing inside?"

"So far from home."

"If you wanna get back home, we can help."

"Why would I leave this place? A world of industry, of workforce and warfare. I could turn it to such purpose."

"How would you do that?"

"I would migrate to the Holy Monarch."

"You mean Queen Victoria?"

"With one bite, I would pass into her blood. And then it begins. The Empire of the Wolf! So many questions..." He suddenly lunged forward, making the prisoners, including Rose and Sierra, jump and gasp. "Look! Inside your eyes! You've seen it too!"

"Seen what?"

"The Wolf! There is something of the Wolf about you!"

Rose stared at him, breathing heavily. "I don't know what you mean."

"Bad Wolf…" Crossed through Sierra's mind but she kept her thoughts to herself.

"You burnt like the sun, but all I require is the moon."

The doors of the cellar were thrown open and the moonlight flooded in, over the Host's cage. He pressed his face against the bars with a blissful smile.

"Moonlight..."

"Rose, come back here." Sierra said stiffly, knowing what would happen next. The prisoners around her were shifting around uncomfortably, not knowing what to make of this. The Host shed his cloak. A wind blew through the cellar. The Host grasped the bars of the cage.

"Rose!"

"All of you! Stop looking at it! Flora, don't look - listen to me. Grab hold of the chain and pull!" Rose took a hold on the chain and pulled. "Come on! With me! Pull!"

Sierra grabbed the chain too and pulled together with the blonde. There were growling sounds emitting from the cage, and Lady Isobel was just staring at it in horror.

"I said pull! Stop your whining and listen to me! All of you! And that means you, your Ladyship! Now come on - pull!"

They all stood up to help Rose pull on the chain, trying to free it from the wall. Sierra looked frantically around. Thoughts were racing in her head. The Doctor probably would have realized they were missing by now and also that something was going on there. How he could have not? The racket the Host was making was almost deafening to them in the cellar. Could the Doctor hear her if she screamed? He was a Time Lord after all. His eye sight, sense of smell and physical strength was greater than an average human. Would his hearing be too? She had to try. Sierra drew deep breath and…

"DOCTOR!" She yelled towards the ceiling of the cellar. Behind her the Host was slowly transforming into a wolf. He screamed in pain as his skin bulged horribly. His screamed turn into growls as he began to look more and more like a wolf.

"... three... Pull!" Rose told the servants, trying her best to ignore Sierra's recent scream. The brunette was usually so calm and composed and rarely – if at all – panicked. So hearing that scream made the blonde shudder. "One… two… three… pull!"

* * *

"_DOCTOR!"_ The Doctor stopped as he heard the sound. The scream muffled by walls and doors. Sierra. He continued running after Sir Robert then. Hopefully the girls would be in the same place than Lady Isobel and the rest of the staff. And judging by the scream and Sir Robert's worry, they most likely were.

* * *

The werewolf's transformation was complete now. It growled and flexed its claws as the prisoners screamed. Sierra huffed and pulled out her Sonic Light. The right frequency to stone was snapped on and she pointed it at the point where the chain was attached to the wall.

_Vrrrrrrrr_

"One, two, three, pull!" Rose commanded. They pulled(sans Sierra) and finally the chain came free. The Doctor kicked down the door to the cellar.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rose asked.

The Doctor turned and stared at the werewolf with wide-eyed awe as it grabbed hold of the bars of the cage.

"Oh, that's beautiful!" He commented.

"No time for that! Everybody out!" Sierra yelled to everyone.

"Get out!" Sir Robert told his wife. The wolf began to bend and break the bars, throwing the cage off. The household staff all clambered to get out of the room. The Doctor suddenly remembered the urgency of the situation and turned back to them.

"Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!" He told everyone.

"Come on..." Rose grabbed the Time Lord's arm and pulled him with her. He stumbled a bit, still staring at the wolf. Sierra sighed and pushed him towards the door.

The werewolf stood tall, free of the cage. He threw the top of it across the room, narrowly missing the Doctor who finally stopped staring and made a run for it. He slammed the door behind him and Sierra locked it with the Sonic Light. The wolf stretched up and howled at the moon.

* * *

The Steward was handing guns to all the men.

"Arms... and your strife... ready everyone?" He asked, turning then to Lady Isobel. "Take the girls. Get them out through the kitchen."

Lady Isobel approached her husband. "I can't leave you. What will you do?"

"I must defend her Majesty. Now, don't think of me, just go." Sir Robert answered. Lady Isobel kissed him and then gathered her maids.

"All of you at my side come on!" She pulled them through to the kitchen. The Doctor was using the Sonic Screwdriver to relieve Rose of the handcuffs. Sierra had already released herself with the Sonic Light.

"It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths. Did it say what it wanted?" The Doctor asked, taking very fast.

"The Queen, the Crown, the throne - you name it." Rose huffed.

There was a thumping sound from the direction of the cellar and the three looked around. The Doctor ventured out into the corridor to investigate, Sierra right after him. The wolf had managed to knock down the door and was standing at the other end of the corridor. He, the Doctor and Sierra stared at one another for a few moments before the werewolf growled and the two travelers ran back into the room. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her behind the line of men with guns poised and ready. Sierra too her own gun and positioned herself in the end of the line but a bit behind the men.

"Fire!" The steward commanded. They shot at the wolf, who stumbled back a few steps.

"Fire!" Rose flinched as they fired again. Sierra raised her own gun, on a stunning level 3, and aimed too. But she didn't fire just yet. It would be only the last resort.

In mere minutes the room with the firing squad was full of smoke. There was no sign of the wolf.

"All right, you men, we should retreat upstairs, come with me." The Doctor told them.

"I'll not retreat. The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault." The steward answered.

"I'm telling you, come upstairs!" The Time Lord told them again, this time with an angry voice.

"And I'm telling you, sir, that I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall." Came the equally angry reply. The man strode across the room to look down the corridor, checking of the wolf. The Doctor just watched him, looking extremely angry and concerned. What was with these men? Well, the ladies were in the kitchen if even that far and most likely they wouldn't get any further from there… And most likely some of the ladies were the loved ones of these men.

Apparently seeing nothing, the steward strode back looking mildly triumphant.

"Must've crawled away to die-…" His sentence got cut off when he was lifted clean through the ceiling by the wolf and they all could hear him being devoured. Sierra aimed and shot once, missing just barely.

"Tch…" She flipped on a stronger level and was about to aim again when…

"There's nothing we can do!" The Doctor yelled. He grabbed hold of Rose and Sierra and pushed them from the room with him. They could hear the firing squad being slaughtered behind them. Sierra let out a shudder but continued running.

* * *

They(The Doctor, Sierra, Rose and Sir Robert) burst into a room. The Doctor slammed the door behind them and Sierra locked it with the Sonic Light.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Sir Robert shouted in slight panic. The First Woman of Britain come down the stairs.

"Sir Robert! What's happening?" She asked. The Doctor dashed off to check something. "I heard such terrible noises."

"Your Majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?"

"Captain Reynolds disposed of him." The Doctor came back to the room.

"The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut. Pardon me, Your Majesty, you'll have to leg it out of a window." He told them. He gestured through a door and Queen Victoria obliged with her head held high. Sir Robert followed and they found themselves in another upstairs room.

"Excuse my manners, Ma'am, but I shall go first, the better to assist Her Majesty's egress." Sir Robert said with a slight bow.

"A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh." Queen Victoria nodded.

"Yeah, any chance you could hurry up?" The Doctor interrupted impatiently. Sir Robert climbed onto the window sill and had to immediately dodge out of the way as he got shot at by the Monks standing outside. The Doctor stared out of the window, eyes wide.

"I reckon the monkey boys want us to stay inside." The Time Lord mused.

"Do they know who I am?" Queen Victoria asked.

"Yeah, that's why they want ya. The wolf's lined you up for a... a biting." Rose told her Majesty.

"Now, stop this talk. There can't be an actual wolf."

"Nope, just a space wolf. These guys want to turn you into one too thus are keeping you here. They don't want to actually harm you so there could be a chance for you to escape but… in the other hand they are ready to do anything to keep you here." Sierra explained before pausing. "Dammit, the cons outweigh pros. Why it's always like that with us, Doc?" She asked but didn't get an answer when a howling rang through the house. The company spun around, alarmed, and left the room hurriedly. They ran into a hallway and the wolf was battering on the door behind them.

"What do we do?" Rose asked.

"We... run!" The Doctor answered.

"Is that it?!"

"Well, do _you_ got any silver bullets?" Sierra almost snapped.

"Not on me, no!" Rose snapped back.

"There we are then, we run. Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog." The Doctor interrupted before anything could go any further. He jogged on the spot to demonstrate to the Queen. "Good for the health. Come on!"

He grabbed the Queen's hand and led her from the room. They ran as fast as they could up the staircase. The wolf broke the door down and bounded up the staircase after them.

"Come on! Come on!"

* * *

They reached the top of the stairs and ran through the corridors, the wolf close on their tails. It was nearly upon them, ready to pounce when Captain Reynolds appeared holding a gun. He shot and the wolf reeled backwards down the corridor. The Captain ducked behind the corridor where they were standing, out of breath.

"I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving, for God's sake! Your Majesty, I went to look for the property, it was taken. The chest was empty." The captain said to Queen Victoria.

"I have it. It's safe." The Queen replied.

"Then remove yourself, Ma'am. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector. And you, Sir Robert, you're a traitor to the crown." The captain cocked his gun.

"Bullets can't stop it!" The Doctor exclaimed

"They'll buy you time. Now, run!" He positioned himself at the end of the corridor, gun held ready. Queen Victoria and Sir Robert had already started running in the opposite direction, followed by the Doctor, and finally by Rose who stared at Captain Reynolds in dismay for a few seconds. Sierra placed her hands on the blonde's back and pushed her on.

"C'mon, we can't stay, you know it." The brunette muttered and the two ran after the others. The Doctor, Sir Robert and Queen Victoria ran into the library. Rose stopped outside the door and saw as Captain Reynolds shot at the werewolf as it bounded down the corridor towards him, pounced upon him and then ripped him apart. Rose was frozen in horror and couldn't move. Sierra stepped in front of her, blocking the blonde's line of sight and aimed her gun at the beast.

"Rose, go!" She yelled, firing the stunning rays at the wolf. Two of them hit, slowing the creature down a bit.

"Rose!" The Doctor rushed out into the corridor, grabbed her round the waist and pulled her into the room and turned back just in time to see the wolf's claws swipe at the other girl dangerously close. "Sierra!"

"I'm fine!" Sierra flipped even stronger stunning level on and managed to freeze the wolf for a moment. She didn't spare a thought of whether the gun was meant to do it or not, just run into the room. And not a moment too early to slam the door shut.

* * *

Sir Robert, Sierra and Rose helped the Doctor barricade the doors with chairs and bits of wood.

"Wait a minute, shh, shh, wait a minute..." The Doctor said suddenly and they ceased blocking the door. The wolf was howling into the silence. "It's stopped."

He stood up on a chair and pressed his ear against the door. "It's gone."

Footsteps could be heard padding around the outside of the room now.

"Listen..." Rose whispered. The Doctor climbed quietly down from the chair and there was a dead silence in the library as they followed the wolf's progress around the room, absolutely terrified. The Queen was shaking violently.

"Is this the only door?" He asked the owner of the house.

"Yes. No!" Sir Robert dashed to the other door with the Doctor and they barricaded it shut.

"Shh!" Rose silenced them. They looked around uneasily as they heard the sounds the werewolf was making. And then it stopped. Footsteps padded away into the distance. "I don't understand. What's stopping it?"

"Something inside this room." Sierra stated, making the Doctor and Rose look at her.

"What is it? Why can't it get in?" The Doctor asked aloud from no one in particular.

"I don't remember. I can't remember the exact details… just the major plot lines and the basic lay-out of each… problem. Probably so I won't do anything un-fixable." Sierra shifted nervously.

"It's alright. We can solve this on our own." The Doctor patted her on the shoulder and started pacing around the room.

"I'll tell you what, though..." Rose said.

"What" The Doctor stopped in mid-step and looked at her.

"Werewolf...!"

"I know!"

Rose half laughed and they threw their arms around each other. Sierra shook her head amusedly.

"You all right?" The Doctor asked the blonde.

"I'm okay, yeah!" She nodded. Queen Victoria stared at them, eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's all my fault. I should've sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong, I... thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?" Sir Robert asked behind them.

"Well, they were bald, athletic... your wife's away, I just thought you were happy." The Doctor shrugged.

"I'll tell you what though, Ma'am, I bet you're not amused now."

"Rose, shut up!" Sierra snapped this time for real. She had had gotten totally enough of the blonde's stupid bet. "Can't you see we have more important things to think about than whether her Majesty is amused or not?" In the other words, forget the bet and focus if you are capable to.

"Do you think this is funny?" Queen Victoria said angrily to Rose, whole-heartedly agreeing with Sierra.

"No, Ma'am, I'm sorry." Rose said meekly.

"What, exactly, I pray someone please, what exactly is that creature?" The Queen asked.

"You'd call it a werewolf, but technically it's a more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform." The Doctor answered, scratching his head.

"And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?"

The Doctor finally realized he had accidentally dropped his Scottish accent.

"Oh... right, sorry-…"

"I'll not have it. No, sir… not you... not that thing... none of it. This is not my world."

* * *

The Doctor was walking around the room but stopped then. He reached up to touch the woodwork. There was a carving of mistletoe on the door.

"Mistletoe... Sir Robert, did you father put that there?" He asked.

"I don't know, I suppose..."

"On the other door, too... a carving wouldn't be enough... I wonder..." The Doctor licked the woodwork. "Viscum album, the oil of the mistletoe. It's been worked into the wood like a varnish! How clever was your dad? I love him!" He turned to talk to Rose and Sierra then. "Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins."

"And the wolf's allergic to it?" Rose asked.

"Well, it thinks it is. The monkey monk monks need a way of controlling the wolf, maybe they trained it to react against certain things."

"Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor, and we still don't possess an actual weapon." Sir Robert said.

"Oh, your father got all the brains, didn't he?"

"Rude." Sierra stated offhandedly, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Good. I meant that one." He strode towards the book shelves. "You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world." He put his glasses on. Sierra felt like squealing 'brainy specs' but decided not to. "This room's the greatest arsenal we could have."

He pulled some books off the shelf and chucked some to Rose. Sierra also took some books even though she also had her gun. The books were handy indeed. She loved reading and there wasn't any greater weapon than knowledge. And the books were quita good to throw at enemies.

"Arm yourself."

* * *

The four of them were frantically flicking through the books, talking over one another.

"Biology, zoology... there might be something on wolves in here..." Rose muttered. The Doctor chucked a book to her.

"Hold on, what about this?" He asked.

"... some form of explosive..." Sir Robert said while flicking through the book he was holding.

"Hmm, that's the sort of thing. Ooh..." The Doctor jumped down from the ladder, holding a book which he put down on the table. "Look what your old dad found. Something fell to Earth."

On the open page was an illustration of a rock falling to Earth from the sky. Sierra, Rose and Sir Robert gathered around.

"A spaceship?" Rose guessed.

"A shooting star." Sierra said. Sir Robert leaned towards the book and started to read it aloud.

"'In the year of our Lord, 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit.' That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the Monastery." He told them.

"But that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"Maybe just a single cell survived. Adapting slowly down the generations. It survived through the humans. Host after host after host." The Doctor reasoned.

"But why does it want the throne?" Sir Robert asked this time.

"That's what it wants. It said so, the... the Empire of the Wolf." Rose told the aristocrat.

"Imagine it... the Victorian Age accelerated... starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam... leaving history devastated in its wake..." The Doctor thought aloud and Sierra was sure he could see all that in front of his eyes. And maybe he did. He was a Time Lord after all.

"Sir Robert!" Queen Victoria stood up suddenly. Sir Robert went to her. "If I am to die here..."

"Don't say that, Your Majesty."

"I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself." She opened her bag.

"Hardly the time to worry about your valuables." The Doctor commented from the table.

"Thank you for your opinion. But there is nothing more valuable than this." And she took a large and valuable looking diamond from her bag and held it on the palm of her hand.

"Is that the Koh-I-Noor?" Rose asked, her eyes like a pair of saucers.

"Oh, yes... the greatest diamond in the world." The Doctor said and he and Rose shuffled forward for a closer look. Sierra frowned.

"Koh-I-Noor? I might have heard of it sometime… But I totally forgot what it exactly was." She muttered. **(A/N: My bad. The term was familiar but I didn't know what it was until I started to write this scene…)**

"Given to me as the spoils of war. Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die." Queen Victoria told them.

"Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough. Can I...?" The Doctor held out his hand for the diamond. Queen Victoria gave it to him. Sierra leaned to right a bit to see the diamond past him. He pushed his glasses down his nose to look at the diamond closely. Rose prodded it, eyes still wide.

"That is so beautiful." The Time Lord said quietly in awe.

"True…" Sierra whispered but no one heard her.

"How much is that worth?" Rose asked.

"Too much to think about…" Sierra stated.

"They say... the wages of the entire planet for a whole week." The Doctor told the two.

"Good job my mum's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing." Rose mused.

"And she'd win."

Rose laughed.

"Where is the wolf?" Sir Robert asked, walking away. "I don't trust this silence."

"Why do you travel with it?" The Doctor asked the Queen then.

"My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew. The Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs re-cutting."

"Oh, but it's perfect." Rose sighed.

"My late husband never thought so."

The Doctor removed his glasses. "Now, there's a fact: Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting."

"He always said... the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished." Queen Victoria said sadly.

"Unfinished... oh, yes!" The Doctor tossed the Koh-I-Noor back to Queen Victoria, who caught it. "There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond… Hold on, hold on…" The hundred miles per hour speech started. The Doctor ruffled his hair violently in his eagerness to work everything out. "All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected! Oh, my head, my head! What if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, Ma'am?"

"Obviously."

"At least, that's what the wolf intended. But! What if there's a trap inside the trap?"

"Explain yourself, Doctor."

"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories. They dared to imagine all this was true. And they planned against it. Laying the real trap not for you... but for the wolf." Sierra said, after crossing her arms on her chest and tossing her coat to Rose to put it on again. The Doctor nodded in confirmation but couldn't continue when some fine sprinkling of plaster fell down on them from the ceiling. They all looked up, and saw the werewolf walking over the glass dome above their heads, looking down at them and growling.

"That wolf there…" The Doctor muttered. The glass of the dome started to crack. The three time travelers threw down their books and together with Queen Victoria ran to the door. "Out! Out! Out!"

The Werewolf crashed through the glass, smashing on the desk as it landed directly on it, while the Doctor, Sierra, Rose and Sir Robert destroyed their barricade and ran out into the corridor.

"Your Majesty!" The Aristocrat shouted. The Doctor took one last look at the roaring wolf before slamming the doors closed.

* * *

The five of them ran down the corridor.

"Gotta get to the observatory!" The Doctor yelled whilst running. No one responded. They just focused in getting as far away from the wolf as possible. The rounded a corner, the werewolf close behind. Rose turned around and froze, transfixed by the wolf. Sierra turned around too and ran back to her to grab her wrist and pull her with her. Just as the wolf was on them, Rose screamed and a pan of mistletoe water flew onto the wolf. Rose screamed again and Sierra clamped her hand over the blonde's mouth. The werewolf bounded back down the corridor away from them.

"Good shot!" The Doctor complemented their savior who turned out to be Lady Isobel.

"It was mistletoe!" The woman told them in relief and exhaustion and a little bit of pride and glee. The Doctor nodded to her and followed then the wolf's way down the corridor to ensure it was truly gone.

"Isobel!" Sir Robert exclaimed and went to kiss his wife. "Get back downstairs."

"Keep yourself safe."

He nodded and they kissed again.

"You go."

Lady Isobel and the maids went past Sir Robert and made their way back to the kitchen.

"Girls, come with me. Down the Back stairs, back to the kitchen. Quickly!" As they ran off, Sir Robert stared after his wife, a look in his eyes that suggested he was wondering if he'll ever see her again.

"Come on!" The Doctor called them all and they set off at run again down the corridor.

"The observatory's this way!" Sir Robert changed the direction, reaching the central staircase and hurrying up it as fast as they could but the werewolf was already recovering and soon it returned to the chase. They finally arrived at the observatory, the Doctor in the lead again.

"No mistletoe on these doors, your father wanted the wolf to get inside! Get inside I just need time! Is there any way of barricading this?!" The Doctor said immediately.

"Just do your work and I'll defend it." Sir Robert told the Time Lord.

"If we could bind them shut with rope or something!" The Doctor thought aloud, like he hadn't heard the noble.

"I said I'd find you time, sir." Rose and Queen Victoria stared at him, aghast. Sierra merely watched the giant telescope. "Now get inside." Sir Robert told them all. The Doctor looked at him for a second.

"Good man." Sir Robert closed the door and the Doctor ran to the Queen. "Your Majesty, the diamond." The Time Lord requested, his hand towards her, palm facing the ceiling.

"For what purpose?" Her Majesty asked.

"The purpose it was designed for."

Queen Victoria handed over the diamond from her bag. The Doctor ran over to the mechanism for the telescope where Sierra was already waiting for him.

"Okay, let's get working." She smirked. The Doctor smiled to her and then called the blonde over.

"Rose!" She ran to the Doctor. "Lift it! Come on!"

The three of them struggled to turn the wheel, but eventually the cogs start to shift and the telescope to rise.

"Is this the right time for stargazing?" Rose asked whilst struggling.

"Yes, it is." The Doctor answered.

"Definitely." Sierra grinned but the grin slid of her face when they heard screams and shouts outside the observatory. "Sir Robert…" The brunette whispered. Next to her Rose looked hopelessly terrified at the brave man's final screams. Queen Victoria held up her crucifix. The werewolf could be now heard battering the door. The gears continued to grind while Queen Victoria murmured a prayer under her breath.

"You said this thing doesn't work!" Rose shouted then.

"Not as a telescope, no!" Sierra shouted over the noise.

"And that's because that's not what it is! It's a light chamber! It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up!" The Doctor explained.

"But there's no electricity!" The blonde… gasped? What? Did she really gasp? Why?

"Nope, but we have moonlight. And Koh-I-Noor to concentrate it into one point." Sierra told her with a smile when Rose's face lit up in realization.

"You're seventy percent water but you can still drown. Come on!" The Doctor told them. The Light Chamber finally started to align with the moon. "Come on!"

* * *

After the longest minute ever, the telescope was properly aligned with the pearly white full moon. Rose, the Doctor and Sierra stepped away from the gears as the moonlight bounced off the prisms. Just as the Werewolf broke through the door, the light darted forth from the end of the light chamber onto the floor far short of the werewolf. The werewolf advanced on the Queen but the Doctor dove across the floor and threw the Koh-I-Noor into the beam of light. A fantastic, prismatic beam of light hit the werewolf. It was lifted off the floor and hung there, caught in the wash of moonlight. As they looked on, the werewolf retook human form.

"Make it brighter. Let me go." The Host said quietly, pleadingly. The Doctor slowly walked across to the light chamber and flicked a switch. With a final howl from the wolf form, the creature vanished and the light shut off. Rose breathed a huge sigh of relief along with Sierra. The brunette looked at her hands and noticed them shaking. The adrenaline was wearing off now. The Queen, however, was staring intently at some wound on her wrist. The Doctor noticed her.

"Your Majesty? Did it bite you?" He asked tentatively.

"No, it's... it's a cut." The queen answered.

"If that thing bit you…"

"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart."

"Let me see." He took a step closer but she pulled her hand away sharply.

"It is nothing."

"Doctor, leave it. It's nothing serious." Sierra put in. The Doctor stared at her and then the Queen, obviously not believing either of them.

* * *

The sun was rising and the next day beginning. The Doctor, Sierra and Rose stepped forward and kneeled before Queen Victoria. Everyone – everyone still alive – was present including Lady Isobel and the maids.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Sir Doctor of Tardis." Queen Victoria spoke and tapped the Time Lord on each shoulder with a sword.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Dame Rose of the Powell Estate." She continued and tapped the blonde on each shoulder with the sword just like she just did with the Doctor. She moved to Sierra then.

"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Dame Sierra of the Void." The brunette was also tapped on each shoulder with the sword.

"You may stand."

They rose.

"Many thanks, Ma'am." The Doctor said.

"Thanks! They're never going to believe this back home." Rose grinned.

Sierra merely smiled. "This is a great honor Ma'am." She bowed her head slightly.

"Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving a message from the great beyond; I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now Ma'am, even from beyond the grave." The Doctor told her Highness.

"Indeed. Then you may think on this, also: that I am not amused." Queen Victoria told him. The Doctor groaned while Rose looked jubilant.

"Yes!" She whispered and Sierra slapped her hands over their mouths.

"Not remotely amused." The Queen continued. Sierra could feel Rose smirking shamelessly against her palm. "And henceforth... I banish you."

The Doctor and Rose were stunned. Sierra removed her hands now.

"I'm sorry..?" He said slowly and a tad more quietly than he normally spoke.

"I rewarded you, Sir Doctor. And now you are exiled from this empire, never to return. I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars – and magic – and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death and I will not allow it! You will leave this shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you managed to stray so far from all that is good. And how much longer you will survive this... terrible life." Queen Victoria stepped away from them angrily. "Now leave my world. And never return."

"Okay, let's go." Sierra clapped her hands together and ushered the other two out of the house. By the door she turned back to face the Queen. "Your Majesty, there is lot to see out there. We have seen a lot but not all. We know that some of them are hostile but not all of them. The Doctor…" She glanced to see the Time Lord was out of earshot. "…is one of those who are not. He is ready to do anything to protect the Earth and this Kingdom. I've seen it. And one day, the humanity will reach the stars from their own will. So, Your Majesty, until then, may the stars protect You and this land." And with those words she left, leaving disbelieving and confused Queen behind.

* * *

They jumped off the back of a farmer's cart back in the highlands near the TARDIS.

"Cheers, Dougal!" The Doctor waves to the farmer as they walked away and the farmer drove off. "You know, the funny thing is, Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood! It's historical record haemophiliac. It used to be called the Royal Disease! But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere!

"What, and you're saying that's a wolf bite?" Rose asked.

"Well, maybe Haemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism." The Doctor shrugged.

"It wasn't a bite though, just a scratch. From the claws or something." Sierra pointed out. "If it were a bite, there would've been more than just one cut mark."

"For werewolf though?" Rose arched her eyebrows.

"Could be!" The Doctor said brightly.

"Queen Victoria's a werewolf?"

"Could be! And, her children had the Royal Disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip."

"So, the Royal Family are werewolves?"

"Well… maybe not yet. I mean, a single wolf cell could take... a hundred years to mature... might be ready by… oooh… early 21st century...?"

"Nah! That's just ridiculous! Mind you… Princess Anne...!"

"I'll say no more."

"And if you think about it... They're very private. They plan everything in advance. They - they could schedule themselves around the moon - we'd never know!" Rose blabbered enthusiastically. The Doctor sniggered as they reached the TARDIS and he opened the door. "They like hunting! They love blood sports!" Rose continued as they step in. The Doctor laughed with Sierra and the TARDIS started to dematerialize "Oh my God, they're werewolves!"

The Doctor and Rose howled and cackled over the sound of the TARDIS engines until it had completely vanished. Sierra lounged comfortably on the jump seat.

"By the way, Sierra… the Dame of Void? Really?" The Doctor looked up from the console at her.

"Well, yeah… Actually I'm beyond it but… I think it was pretty good. And one aristocrat of Tardis is enough." She smiled and her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"_Hello, pretty girl, where have you been lately?"_ She smiled as she recognized the voice as Jack's.

"Oh, nothing special you know. Saving the Queen this time and making sure that you have a working place now…"

* * *

**A/N: Here this was. I hope you liked this one. Please review. See you in two weeks. :)**


	4. Bats eat rats, we learn that in school

**A/N: Okay, this is a couple of days early but I doubt any of you have anything to complain about that fact. However I have some bad news for you. I've hit and writer's block. Well, not exactly since the main script already exists(the original episodes) but I haven't finished the next chapter yet. I'm working on it but from now on. This fic will update when I have a chapter done. I'm really sorry about this but my other projects have gotten my interest. I blame them... Don't worry tho****ugh. I'll try my best not to abadon this fic. I really like writing this and your reviews are making me very happy. Thank you!**

**But enough about depressing? matters. I'm sure you've been waiting for this chapter.**

* * *

**3. The Smiths**

The call came. Mickey Smith contacted the Doctor and told him about something weird and definitely suspicious going on in one primary school back in Earth. When he told the news to the three time-travelers, their reactions were all different from each other's. The Doctor's head perked up and tilted a bit while he stared to think about different possibilities behind the phenomenon. Rose just stared her (ex-)boyfriend disbelievingly and Sierra… Her face practically lit up and she grinned with an excited light in her eyes. They'd met Sarah Jane! Finally!

"Awesome! Are going then?" She asked. The other two looked at her in confusion and Doctor nodded.

"We are." He told the girls though he was a bit confused about Sierra's sudden enthusiasm.

"Yes!" She punched the air with her both fists and danced then to the direction of her room. "I probably need to go ahead of you though… I promised Mycroft to jump off of some building next time I'm back in London… So that he knows something's going to happen…" The brunette told over her shoulder. "And by the way… I'm not going to be a dinner lady." And she was gone.

* * *

Two days, one time-jump, one suicidal jump and one tiring conversation with Mycroft Holmes later Sierra strolled through the school yard of the suspicious school and stepped into the entrance hall. With a smirk on her face she navigated through the corridors, all the way to the canteen. She spotted the Doctor by one table, having a conversation with a miffed Rose.

"Two days." The blonde said while wiping the table with a dishcloth.

"Sorry, could you just- there's a bit of gravy." The Doctor pointed the spot with his fork. Rose wiped the table. "No, no… just there."

Rose wiped up the gravy.

"Two days, we've been here." She continued, annoyed. "And Sierra just walked off after being so excited about comin' here."

"Blame your boyfriend, he's the one who put us onto this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning - got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth." The Doctor mused. "And about Sierra… Well, you know her. She doesn't like sitting through boring days. Just like with the Slitheens, she skipped a day while I checked the pig-alien."

Rose huffed and looked at the plate in front of the Doctor then. "You eating those chips?

"Yeah, they're a bit... different."

Rose helped herself to one. "I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this." She sat down.

"Well, I'm not touching those." A voice said and the owner of it sat next to the Doctor. "Hello folks." Sierra grinned.

"Hello Sierra." The other two chorused.

"What have you been up to this time?" The Doctor asked the brunette girl.

"Nothing special, annoying Mycroft again. And he annoying me. And I managed to scratch my forearm on barbed wire." She showed a bandage on her left arm. "Stupid safety precautions… How about you two?"

"Serving dinner." Rose shrugged.

"… Have you noticed how very well behaved this place is?" The Doctor asked suddenly, looking around the canteen.

"True… Very quiet. Unlike any school canteen I've ever been." Sierra admitted, looking around too. "Even back in high school there was always a lot of noise in the canteen because everyone was chattering away. It was hard to converse with friends unless you sat in a place where the noise couldn't reach in the same way than the other canteen."

"Mm…" Rose just let out while her mouth was full of chips. Sierra pouted.

"I wouldn't eat those if I were you…"

Rose swallowed the chips and picked up some more. "Why not?" She asked and plopped them into her mouth. Sierra merely looked away and ignored the question.

"I thought there'd be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones." The Doctor continued and stared at Rose impressively. "Yeah? Yeah? Oh, yeah! Don't tell me I don't fit in."

A dinner lady approached their table.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." The woman told Rose. The blonde got on her feet.

"I was just talking to this teacher… and his friend."

"Hello!" Sierra and the Doctor greeted.

"He doesn't like the chips."

"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work." The dinner lady ushered Rose away before leaving. Rose walked a bit away from the table but turned then back.

"See? This is me." She gestured down at her uniform. "The dinner lady."

"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor said calmly.

"I'm so gonna kill you." Rose returned to her station, the Doctor grinning manically and Sierra snickering quietly herself. In distance a teacher, Mr. Wagner, approached a girl sitting a few tables away.

"Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me... so it's time we moved you up to the top class." He told the girl. The Doctor watched, chewing absently. Sierra watched too.

"If that's not suspicious I don't know what is." She muttered.

"Kenny? Not eating the chips?" Mr. Wagner asked one boy.

"I'm not allowed." The boy shifted.

"Luke, extra class. Now." He left, and several of the children followed him. Mr. Finch watched the proceedings from a balcony above the canteen. He seemed to notice the Doctor watching him but left soon after that then.

"Shall we go now?" Sierra asked, getting up. The Doctor nodded, returned his tray and followed her out of the canteen.

* * *

"What can you tell me about this situation?" The Time Lord asked while they walked down one corridor.

"I asked Mycroft about this but he didn't tell me anything. Said I already know too much. But what I remember about this and can tell you… The Headmaster is suspicious, as is a great deal of the teachers. The kids are just victims of this chip-conspiracy. Kenny is naturally bright kid and… we are going to meet your old friend." Sierra smiled. The Doctor arched his eyebrows.

"Old friend? Who?" He asked.

"Snooping journalist."

"What?"

"You'll see…" The brunette smirked as her phone rang. She picked it up, smiling at the caller's ID. "Talk to me handsome." She answered to it.

"_Whoa, who are you and what happened to Sierra Adler? Starting with downright flirting."_ A joking and flirtatious voice of Jack Harkness asked.

"Me? Oh, nothing…" She took a couple of steps away from the Doctor. "What's up?"

"_I was just wondering who is trying to see photos about UFO activity around Defry Vale."_

"Oh, that'd be Mickey. Don't worry about it, he is trustworthy. Besides your lot – well, the London part anyways – has blocked them so no worries, right?" Sierra stopped then for a second. "Why are _you _calling me by the way? You are in _Cardiff_, not London."

"_They gave the task to me. Don't want to have any connections to exiles…"_

"Oh shut it you." Sierra huffed but couldn't quite keep a smile off of her face.

"_Very well then, Dame Sierra of Void, your humble knight in shining armor will retreat now. Hear about you again."_

"More like in a comfy WWII great coat."

"_Right you are Dame, bye!"_

"Bye!" She hung up and pocketed her phone. The Doctor eyed her with a slight frown on his face but it melted away soon when Sierra smiled brightly to him.

"Who was it?" He asked. The girl bounced to him and hook her arm with his.

"A dear friend of mine. He always brightens the day." She smiled up to him.

"Boyfriend?"

"Nope, he'll have one in future so I won't even try. Besides I don't think him like that. We flirt with each other a lot, yes, but it's because we understand each other so well. Better than any other being would ever be able to." Her smile turned a bit melancholic for a moment but soon she was totally her bright self again. The Doctor smiled to her and they continued walking while chattering happily about this and that.

* * *

In the staffroom the Doctor was sitting on a desk, nibbling a biscuit. Sierra was sitting next to him, eating sushi from a bento bow she had bought from the Bond Street(All Hail to Time-jumping). For some reason no one was questioning her presence. There was a teacher pacing up and down in front of them.

"But yesterday, I had a twelve-year-old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy... in cubits." The teacher, Mr. Parsons told them.

"And, it's ever since the new headmaster arrived?" The Doctor asked.

"Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot." The teacher nodded over to where a group of smart looking teachers were standing. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at them. "Except for the teacher you replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."

"How's that weird?"

"She never played! Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight."

Sierra gave a look to the Doctor who looked back at her innocently before popping a biscuit into his mouth.

"Hmm! The world is very strange." He mused. Sierra opened her mouth to say something to him but he popped a biscuit into her mouth. She glared at him but started to much the treat while muttering something about 'cheap tricks'.

"Excuse me, colleagues, a moment of your time." Mr. Finch had arrived to the staffroom. The Doctor turned. His eyes widened and he stood up, just staring at the woman with him. Sierra turned too and smiled widely.

"May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist, who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times." Mr. Finch introduced to woman. Sarah Jane smiled around at them all. The Doctor started to smile too. Sierra slapped him on the shoulder.

"She won't recognize you." She whispered to him.

"I thought it might be useful for her to get 'a view from the trenches', so to speak. Don't spare my blushes." The headmaster told them and left. Sarah Jane caught the Doctor's eye and approached him.

"Hello!" She greeted him.

"Oh, I should think so!" The Doctor grinned to her. Sierra resisted the urge to kick him. She was still sitting on the desk and the Doctor was a bit away from her so if she'd hit him, it'd be to _very_ unpleasant place.

"And, you are...?" The journalist questioned.

"Hm? Uh, Smith. John Smith."

"John Smith? I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name."

"Well, it's a very common name!" The Doctor shrugged with a smile still on his face. Sierra finished her bento.

"He was a very uncommon man." Sarah Jane reminisced.

"So is he…" Sierra gestured the Doctor with her chopsticks before jumping off the table and chucking the box and the sticks into a trash bin. Sarah Jane looked at her for a moment but held out her hand to the Doctor then.

"Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you! Yes! Very nice! More than nice - brilliant!"

"Um... so, um, have you worked here long?" The question was directed to both of them.

"No! Um, it's only my second day."

"And I'm not working here, merely came to watch after this dolt." Sierra jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward 'the teacher'.

"Oi!"

Sarah Jane smiled to them with a nod and turned to address the Doctor then. "You're new, then? So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum?" The Doctor still wasn't able to tear his eyes away from her, and he's smiling at her like a loon but she didn't seem to notice. "So many children getting ill… Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"You don't sound like someone just doing a profile." The Doctor grinned.

"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here." Sarah Jane shrugged.

"No. Good for you." She was walking away to meet some of the other teachers. The Doctor watched her go proudly. "Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."

The bell rang.

* * *

Sierra walked along the corridor while the Doctor had gone to hold his last lesson of the day. She could hear someone running after her. She waited for a couple of seconds before turning around a coming face to face with Sarah Jane Smith. The woman jumped a bit due the sudden movement.

"Hello!" The girl greeted her brightly, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"Hello." Sarah Jane smiled back.

"May I help you somehow?" Sierra tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, actually… Have you seen anything… suspicious going on in this school? Just first impressions about this place are good too." Sarah Jane seemed to be content to ask about the matter from the girl since she wasn't part of the school staff and had only been there for the day or two.

"Don't eat the chips. Children are too smart and the special lessons are definitely suspicious. And I got it all from just sitting in the canteen for one lunch." Sierra chuckled. "And if you add the UFO activity three months back, new headmaster and staff… All Hail to conspiracy theories!"

"I definitely agree with you." Sarah Jane smiled to her but stopped then. "Have we met somewhere before?"

Sierra stopped laughing too. "I don't think so… Well, _you_ may have met me but _I_ haven't met you. This is the first time for me." She spun on her heels and started to walk away. "I need to go now though. Nice chatting with you Sarah Jane." She called over her shoulder and smiled to the brunette woman. "I gotta find Tenny now. But see you again!"

"Wait, you didn't tell me you name last time."

"Sierra Adler! That's me." She spun to face her, bowed a bit and spun back to continue walking away. Sarah Jane Smith was left standing on the hallway in confusion.

"_She couldn't have… From back then… With my Doctor… How?"_ The thoughts whirled around the woman's head but she shook them away. She ought to concentrate on this mystery with this school.

* * *

Night time. God knows how much the time already was. Sierra stifled a yawn as the Doctor opened a fire door and came through it into a dark corridor, followed by Rose, Mickey and… Sierra.

"Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong." Rose mumbled while they made their way cautiously down the corridor. "When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school."

"Really? That's so old-fashioned thought." Sierra snorted. "Although I guess a lot of kids think like that."

"All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say 'team'. Um... 'gang'. Um... 'comrades'. Uh... anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen and get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Math teachers, go and check out the Math department. Sierra… well, I know you'll find something sooner or later. I'm gonna look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes." The Doctor instructed them and took off up the stairs.

"I'll be on my way now too. Gotta find one snooping journalist." Sierra waved to the two and ran down one corridor.

* * *

"Found ya!" A cheerful voice said right behind Sarah Jane. She jumped and whirled around go see Sierra there, smirking widely. The girl started laughing quietly. "You should've seen your face. Just like you'd just heard 'EX-TER-MI-NA-TE' or something."

The woman's posture relaxed ever so slightly but she didn't dare to close her eyes from the girl.

"How did you… How did you know I was going to be here?" She asked the girl.

"Oh, Sarah Jane, I know everything what happens in this world. Or at least what happens on the Doctor's timeline."

"_The Doctor? Is he here?" _Sarah Jane though but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead she turned around slowly and began to pick the lock to Mr Finch's office. Sierra walked next to her and watched her working. They heard a bang followed by a screech behind them and spun around, eyes wide. The sounds became even louder and closer.

"Run!" Sierra whispered and grabbed her gun she had strapped once again on her thigh. Sarah Jane gave a sharp intake of breath accompanied by a nod and the backed slowly away down the corridor.

* * *

They backed into a room and Sarah Jane slammed the door behind them. Sierra looked behind them.

"Oh, hello, Tardie." She smiled to the time machine behind them. Sarah Jane turned around slowly too and there, looming in front of the two, was the TARDIS. Her eyes widened in shock and she backed out of the room, not believing it. Sierra followed her, chuckling at her reaction.

Sarah Jane was staring the closed door, Sierra next to her smiling softly, but then turned slowly around. The Doctor was standing there in the darkness, watching her.

"Hello, Sarah Jane." He said quietly.

"It's you. Oh... Doctor..." Sarah Jane whispered. A smile started to spread across her face as she walked towards him. "Oh, my God, it's you, it's... it's... you've regenerated."

"Half a dozen times since we last met."

"Yup, he is the Tenth Doctor thus I call her Tenny." Sierra put in. "You dolt. I told you we were going to meet her here." She smacked his arm.

"Ow, you said 'snooping journalist'. It's too vague description! And she is much more than just a snooping journalist."

"Combined with the term 'old friend' it's not. And I had to come up with something codeword-y like in a mere seconds so…"

"Well, I'm not offended to either of you." Sarah Jane chuckled. "You two fit well together. And Doctor, you look... incredible."

"So do you." The Doctor smiled.

"I got old." She walked around him, still staring at him. "What're you doing here?"

"Well... UFO sightings, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?"

"Same." They laughed and Sierra smiled to the sight in front of her. She had now met one of the people she had waited so much to meet ever since she came to this world. The amazing Sarah Jame Smith.

Sarah Jane's smile faltered suddenly and she sounded close to tears when she spoke again. "I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must've died."

"I lived. Everyone else died."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone died, Sarah." The Doctor said quietly, voice filled with pain. Sarah Jane shook her head.

"I can't believe it's you." The moment was broken by the sound of Mickey wailing. "Okay! Now I can!"

"Oh, trust Mickey to get into trouble!" Sierra laughed as they took off running from the gym to find the source of the scream. They almost skidded into Rose who ran from a converging corridor.

"Did you hear that?" The blonde asked and spotted Sarah Jane then. "Who's she?"

"Rose, Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane, Rose."

Rose looked unpleasantly surprised. They shook hands.

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Sarah Jane said with a fake smile and turned to address the Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older - your assistants are getting younger."

"I'm not his assistant." Rose huffed. The Doctor scratched his ear uncomfortably. Sierra lifted her left eyebrow up; she hadn't gotten this kind of reaction.

"No? I get you, tiger." Sarah Jane stated. The Doctor sped off and they followed him. They found Mickey in one of the class rooms, surrounded by a load of vacuum-packed rats.

"Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I - I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell out of them." Mickey explained a bit sheepishly. The Doctor bended down and picked a few up to examine them.

"Oh, my God, they're rats. Dozens of rats. Vacuum packed rats." Rose stared.

"And you decided to scream." The Doctor looked up at the boy.

"It took me by surprise!"

"Anyone would've screamed." Sierra crossed her arms on her chest.

"Like a little girl?"

"…"

"It was dark! I was covered in rats!"

"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."

Sierra started to laugh merrily at the image of Mickey, age five, in a pink dress and with pigtails and bows in them.

"Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?" Rose interrupted.

"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?" Sarah Jane asked her. The Doctor and Mickey looked shiftily between them.

"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"

"Oh shut it you both! We don't have a time for a cat fight. Besides isn't it obvious. Rats are used to feed bats." Sierra said.

"I hate when you do that." The Doctor muttered.

"Do what?" Sierra smiled sweetly to him.

"State things you see obvious but keep everyone else in dark."

"But Tenny, you don't really have a say. You do it almost all the time."

"Right, moving on then…" The Doctor eyed warily the other two females in the room. Sarah Jane obviously wanted badly to make a cutting retort. She and Rose gave each other the dirtiest of looks. Sierra sighed. She'd definitely need to sort this out as soon as possible.

"Everything started when Mr. Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." The Doctor chucked the rat he was holding back to Mickey, who dropped it immediately. They followed the Doctor out and down the corridor.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose asked Sarah Jane while they walked.

"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor."

"Oh! Well, he's never mentioned you."

"Oh, I must've done! Sarah Jane! Mention her all the time." The Doctor said.

Rose made deep frown, mock-thinking about the matter. "Hold on... sorry... never."

"What, not even once? He didn't mention me once?" Sarah Jane asked, really annoyed now. Rose walked off and Sarah Jane followed her, probably to probe her further. Sierra sighed again and followed the two.

"Ho ho! Mate! The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare." Mickey grinned to the Doctor and they followed the two of them(plus Sierra).

* * *

They arrived at Mr. Finch's office and the Doctor used the Sonic Screwdriver to unlock the door.

"Maybe those rats were food like Sierra said." He thought aloud.

"Food for what?" Rose asked. The Doctor opened the door and peered inside. There were some incredibly strange noises coming from there. The Doctor's eyes were fixed on the ceiling. Sierra peeked in too.

"They look like bats. Didn't I say?" She whispered.

"Yes, you did." The Time Lord admitted. "Rose... you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school...? Well... they do."

The bat-like creatures were hanging upside down from the ceiling. The four of them were staring at them.

"No way!" Mickey turned on his heel and Sarah Jane and Rose quickly followed him. The Doctor ushered Sierra after them and went last, shutting the door behind him. At the sound of the door shutting, one of the bats woke up and screeched.

"The basic plan then, right?" Sierra asked. The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, run!"

* * *

Mickey, Rose, Sarah Jane, Sierra and the Doctor hurried out of the front doors of the school.

"I am not going back in there. No way." Mickey puffed while trying to catch his breath from running.

"Those were teachers!" Rose said in disbelief.

"Well, we've seen stranger things, haven't we? Slitheen the Prime Minister for example." Sierra smirked.

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on." The Doctor began to walk back inside.

"Come on… You've got to be kidding!" Mickey shouted after him.

"I need the TARDIS. I've got to analyze that oil from the kitchen." The Doctor told him.

"I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you!" Sarah Jane grabbed the Doctor's arm and pulled him excitedly in the direction of the car park. Sierra bounced after them excitedly, Mickey and Rose following a few steps behind.

* * *

Sarah Jane opened the boot of her car. Inside it was something covered with a green blanket. The Doctor pulled the blanket off to reveal K9.

"K9! Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark III to be precise." The Doctor babbled in excitement. Mickey and Rose glanced at each other with an 'it's a tin dog' sort of expression.

"Why does he look so... disco?" Rose asked carefully.

"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge! What's happened to him?" The Doctor looked up at Sarah Jane.

"Oh, one day, he just... nothing!"

"Well, didn't you try and get him repaired?"

Mickey shook his head. Rose stared at him. Sierra shook her head at both of them. They really didn't get it.

"Well, it's not like getting parts for a mini-metro! Besides, the technology inside him could rewrite human science. I couldn't show him to anyone!" Sarah Jane huffed in mild irritation. The Doctor's attention went to K9 now, cooing to it.

"Ooh, what's the nasty lady done to you? Eh?"

Mickey stared at him and Rose rolled her eyes. The Doctor stroked K9 making coo-ing noises. Sarah Jane threw Rose what could be described as a triumphant glance. Sierra ignored them, starting to sing quietly.

"_I knew a man that I will never forget, but nobody ever remembers the pet.  
He took me from the year 5000 on a lonely asteroid. He said he was looking for a droid…  
He was my master, his attention I did crave. To him, I was nothing more than a slave.  
We saved creatures all across the galaxy. But nobody ever thought to save me…"_

Sarah Jane looked up at Sierra, half frightened expression on her face. The Doctor also slowed down a bit but no one noticed.

"_And I wonder what life would be like if I could choose not to say affirmative.  
People tell me what to do and I just roll along. But inside my metal head I'm singing my song!_

"_Treacherous compliance, what have you done to me?  
I'm a fraction of the shadow of the canine I could be.  
I see other dogs in the park fetching sticks and digging bones.  
Never has a tin dog ever felt so alone… Oh no…"_ Sierra started walking slowly backwards, her gaze on the ground. When she had gone about ten steps or so, turned she around with three more and started heading towards the diner nearby, still singing but now the lyrics weren't heard anymore.

* * *

The five of them were in a chip shop. The Doctor and Sarah Jane were sitting at a table by the window, chatting and laughing whilst the Doctor tried to fix K9, who had been placed on the table-top. Mickey and Rose were by the counter, Sierra leaning against it next to them and eating chips she had bought earlier.

"You see, what's impressive is that it's been nearly an hour since we met her and I still haven't said 'I told you so'." Mickey told the blonde. With an effort she stopped looking at the other pair.

"I'm not listening to this." She told him.

"Although, I have prepared a little 'I was right' dance that I can show you later." The boy continued and sniggered then. Sierra also snorted in suppressed laughter.

"That'd be interesting to see." She smiled. The shopkeeper held her hand out to Rose.

"Two quid, love."

Rose gave her the money, took the chips and tucked in immediately.

"All this time you've been giving it, 'he's different!' - when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke!" Mickey explained. They sat down at a table away from the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Rose snapped.

"Well, do you?" Sierra asked, chucking another chip into her mouth. Rose stared at her, like saying 'duh, of course I do. At least more than you do'. Sierra arched her eyebrows at the blonde and sighed then. "I suppose I need to hold a speech for you… and Sarah Jane."

Rose huffed and continued shoveling the chips into her mouth like there's no tomorrow. Sierra sighed and got up to walk to the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

* * *

"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, 'Oh, yeah. Bet he's up there'." Sarah Jane was telling the Time Lord.

"Right on top of it, yeah." The Doctor nodded.

"And Rose?"

"She was there too. With Sierra." There was a pause whilst Sarah Jane looked at him and the Doctor fiddled with K9's wires.

"Did I do something wrong? Because you never came back for me. You just... dumped me."

"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed." The Doctor almost sighed and added then. "Sierra, stop eavesdropping."

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I walked here and you continued conversation without caring about my presence." Sierra said directly Sarah Jane. The woman started a bit but relaxed then.

"But I waited for you. I missed you." She said quietly.

"Oh, you didn't need me! You were getting on with your life." The Doctor tried brush the matter off.

"You were my life." The Doctor looked up at her. "You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, and with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?"

"At least you were alive." Sierra said with a slight sharp and bitter edge in her voice. "What's wrong with you all? You get a chance to continue your life when the other option is to stay with the Doctor on a mission where he might get killed for good. And even then he'll try his best to keep _you _alive and what then? What happens when he is dead and you alive? The world is saved once again and you are good knows where and can't get home anymore._ That_'s when your world is shattered."

Sarah Jane and the Doctor were both staring the girl now. Sierra had already eaten all her chips and had her arms crossed on her chest now and she was glaring the wall on her left, purposefully not looking at either of them. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably but didn't dare to talk to the girl. Sarah Jane continued staring at her. The Doctor furrowed his brows then and asked the woman.

"All those things you saw… Do you want me to apologize for that?" He asked cautiously, half expecting Sierra to blow up.

"No, but we get a taste of that splendour... and then we have to go back." Sarah Jane was also eyeing the girl who didn't move a slightest bit.

"But look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did." The Doctor smiled.

"You could've come back."

"…" Sierra bit her teeth together more firmly. The Doctor noticed this but Sarah Jane didn't. He gulped quietly and said even more quietly:

"I couldn't."

"Why not?" The Doctor didn't answer. Sarah Jane shook her head and the Doctor switched the Sonic Screwdriver back on and returned to repairing K9. But she was still not done. "It wasn't Croydon… Where you dropped me off, it wasn't Croydon!"

"Where was it?"

"Aberdeen." Sierra said. Sarah Jane jumped again and looked at her. The girl still hadn't moved nor had her expression changed.

"Right." The Doctor said as he realized his mistake.

Pause.

"That's next to Croydon, isn't it?" Sarah Jane smiled and shook her head. At that moment, K9 sprung to life. "Oh, hey! Now we're in business!"

He leaped to his feet and stood in front of K9.

"**Master!"** The tin dog said.

"He recognizes me!"

"**Affirmative."**

"Rose, give us the oil."

"She's not here." Sierra sighed and let her head hung now. She shook it and turned around then to fetch the blonde.

* * *

The Doctor took off the lid of the jar with the oil inside and was just about to dip his finger in it.

"I wouldn't touch it, though, that dinner lady got all scalged." Rose told him, stopping the movement for a moment.

"I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that." The Doctor pointed out and dipped his finger into the oil. K9 put out a sensor for the Doctor to smear the oil onto, which he did. "Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."

"**Oil. Ex- ex- ex- extract ana- an- analysing..."**

"Listen to it, man! That's a voice!" Mickey grinned.

"Careful! That's my dog!" Sarah Jane said. Mickey looked sheepish.

"**Confirmation of analysis: substance is Krillitane Oil."**

"They're Krillitanes." The Doctor said in shock.

"Is that bad?" Rose asked.

"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad."

"And what are... Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane asked.

"They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries - people you've invaded or have been invaded by, you've got bits- bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever - the Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry-pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognize them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks." The Doctor explained to them. Sierra made a face.

"Sounds disguisting. They are some sort of shape-shifters then?" She asked for confirmation which she got when the Doctor nodded.

"What're they doing here?" Rose asked. The Doctor was quiet for a second but then the horrible realization dawned to him.

"…It's the children. They're doing something to the children."

* * *

Mickey and Sarah Jane were hoisting K9 into the boot of the woman's car.

"So, what's the deal with the tin dog?" Mickey asked.

"The Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes... they're tin dogs." Sarah Jane told him. Mickey smiled and gave a small laugh. "What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?"

"Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support, I'm..." He stopped.

"Penny in the air…" Sierra mused from nearby. And it hit him. "…and the penny drops."

"Oh, my God. I'm the tin dog." He sat down in shock. Sarah Jane grinned and patted him on the shoulder. Sierra smiled sympathetically to him and turned then her attention to the chip shop where the Doctor and Rose were coming from.

"How many of us have there been, travelling with you?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Does it matter?" He asked back.

"Yeah, it does, if I'm just the latest in a long line." The blonde's voice was trembling. The Doctor stopped and looked at her, hurt shining in his eyes and also anger.

"As opposed to what?"

"I thought you and me were... but I obviously got it wrong. I've been to the year five billion, right, but this... now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to me?"

"No. Not to you."

"But Sarah Jane... you were that close to her once, and now... you never even mention her. Why not?"

"I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you-…" The Doctor stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

"What, Doctor?"

The Doctor stared at her intensely, as if willing her to understand. "You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."

"Time Lord." A voice said from the roof top of the school. The Doctor and Rose looked up and noticed Mr. Finch and the other Krillitane up there. It screeched and swooped down towards them. They ducked, but then it just flew away. Sierra, Sarah Jane and Mickey ran to them.

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked.

"But it didn't even touch her, it just flew off! What did it do that for?" Rose asked. The Krillitane flew off into the night, screeching.

* * *

It's the next morning, the school bell was ringing and the children flocked towards the building. The Doctor, Mickey, Rose, Sarah Jane and Sierra got out of Sarah Jane's car and strode towards the school. The Doctor paused for a moment to give instructions.

"Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Sierra you go with them, use your Sonic… whatever it was."

"Sonic Light." Sierra said, her arms crossed on her chest against the cold weather.

"That one yes. Mickey: surveillance. I want you outside." The Doctor continued.

"Just stand outside?" Mickey asked. Sarah Jane chucked him her car keys.

"Here, take these. You can keep K9 company." She told him.

"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor added.

"But he's metal!"

"I didn't mean for him."

"What're you gonna do?" Rose asked the Time Lord.

"It's time I had a word with Mr Finch." Came the reply.

* * *

Sierra was lying on her back under one of the desks in the IT suite, her Sonic Light whirring and making the computer screen flicker. Rose and Sarah Jane were on the opposite sides of the desk, Rose leaning against it and watching Sierra working while Sarah Jane just observed both of them.

"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?" The woman asked uncertainly. Rose straightened up and looked at her.

"I've got a feeling you're about to." She replied.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding-…" Sarah Jane started but got cut off by the blonde.

"I don't feel threatened by you if that's what you mean."

"Right. Good. Because, I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."

"No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?" There was a scathing edge in Rose's voice now. Sierra stopped working to listen where this conversation was going to.

"I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth..."

Rose crossed her arms and walked away a few paces. "The thing is... when you two met... they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for ya."

"I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe."

"Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen. In Downing Street."

"Daleks!"

Snort. "Met the Emperor."

"Anti-Matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs!"

"Real living werewolf!"

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

"... Seriously?"

Sarah Jane put her hands over her mouth and shook her head. Rose smiled and laughed slightly.

"Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shareen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and... we're arguing over the Doctor." The blonde chuckled. Sarah Jane relaxed against a desk, and Rose looked at her for a moment. "With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety-miles-per-hour, and you'd go, 'what?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

"All the time!" Sarah Jane laughed. "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yeah! Yeah! He does! I'm like, 'do you two wanna be alone?'"

"Good thing that you're out of your throats now…" Sierra sighed and slid out under the desk. She sat up and crossed her legs. "But I'm still giving the lecture to you two." Rose groaned.

"Lecture?" Sarah Jane questioned.

"Yes, the thing is that… you both already know it. The Doctor is old. Several hundred years old, to Rose he said he's nine-hundred years old but no one can know for sure… He has had several companions. The first one was his grand-daughter Susan, and that was in his first… body. You, Sarah Jane have travelled with the Third and Fourth Doctors and you're one of the lucky ones… You are alive and living your own life here on Earth. Rose, you met the Ninth Doctor, right after the Time War. You helped him to get through the trauma and look forward. You witnessed him to regenerate into his Tenth body. You both are important and special to him but neither of you should think that you matter to him more than someone else…

"I know that you understood that already while conversing. The fact that the Doctor doesn't talk about his previous companions is not because he wants to forget them, he just wants to live in the present and give his full attention to the current companion. We all are equally important to him but sometimes it's too hard for him to look back. Because there is many different ways that the companions leave. Some of them are like Sarah Jane; they are alive and back on Earth. They look forward too and continue with their lives… Find ways to protect Earth on their own with everything they have learned. In the other hand some die or are forced to forget or leave him behind due reasons neither of them can affect… and they leave the Doctor heartbroken. Those are the times when he decides not to take anymore companions and not to ruin anymore human lives with his own travels. But he can't do it too long. He always manages to drag someone with him to his adventures and they want to stay with him. And he lets them. He just loves us humans too much. And he needs us. He needs us to stop him when he is going too far. He needs us as a company, especially now when he is the only one of his kind in this universe. And he loves us all equally and very dearly." Sierra smiled to the two females before her and got on her feet.

* * *

Unknown to all three of them, the Doctor had been listening behind the door for them. He had tears in his eyes as he remembered all those marvelous and brilliant men and women he had had with him. Sierra was right: he needed them, he simply couldn't stand being alone. He brushed the tears away and peeked into the room.

"How's it going?" He asked brightly.

"Just fine, but I guess we'll get into the files later rather than sooner." Sierra answered with an equally cheery voice and turned towards the computer she had been working on.

"Yes, I need to find out what's programmed inside these."

Rose and Sarah Jane exchanged glances. They were both thinking how both of those two working now… how they both could just smile like nothing was wrong.

* * *

The bell rang and the children clambered to get inside the IT Suite the Doctor, Sierra, Rose and Sarah Jane were. Rose shooed them away.

"No, no… This classroom's out of bounds. You've all gotta go to the South Hall. Off you go, South Hall!" She told them and the children moved away. Rose shut the door behind them.

"Very secret operation we have here!" Sierra laughed while working under the desk again. The Doctor in the other hand… he had the Sonic Screwdriver clenched between his teeth and was ripping a handful of wires out of a computer and hanging them around his neck while running the Sonic Screwdriver along the back of the computer. Sarah Jane watched the two of them, looking slightly anxious.

"I can't shift it." The Doctor muttered.

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane huffed.

"Anything except a deadlock seal. There's gotta be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"

"Uuu, good question." Sierra joked with a same kind of tone in her voice than Jack used while making an innuendo.

"Sierra, don't… Just don't." The Doctor said.

"Okay!" She sang. Suddenly something happened on the computer screen. It started showing numbers scrambling along it.

"You wanted the program… There it is." Sarah Jane stated. Every computer in their IT Suite started also displaying the code, including the large screen at the front of the room. Sierra slid away under the table and got on her feet now. The Doctor next to her was staring at the display.

"Some sort of code..." He mumbled. "No… no, they can't be…"

"They can't what?" Sierra asked impatiently. They had no time to waste like they never had.

"The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Doctor told them.

"The Skasis what?" Sarah Jane asked in confusion.

"The... God-maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control."

"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?" Rose asked this time.

"Yes." He started pacing around, working it out. "And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil! That oil from the kitchens, it works as a… as a... conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer."

"But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them." Rose said in half-shock.

"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?"

"Two thousand and sixty five." Came the immediate reply. Sierra just started at her.

"Wow, with that oil you would've aced in the Weakest Link… But it might have been considered as doping…" The brunette stated. The Doctor gave a 'that says it all' look.

"Oh my God..." Rose mumbled and then turned to talk to the other girl. "Not funny, Sierra."

"I wasn't being funny."

"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane interrupted the bicker with the question to the Time Lord.

"No, it's gotta be children. The God-maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code... they're using their souls." The Doctor explained.

"And children are faster to learn things than adults. For example new languages: you learn it much better as a kid at school than as an adult in some university." Sierra added, ignoring the murderous look Rose was sending to her direction. She gasped then, staring past the Doctor's shoulder. Mr. Finch had walked into the room.

"Let the lesson begin." The creepy wannabe-headmaster said. The Doctor turned to face him. "Think of it, Doctor, with the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mr. Finch. Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are." The Doctor quipped.

"You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order. Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?" The Time Lord asked skeptically.

"No... someone like you." Came the quiet and ominous reply. The Doctor fell silent: that was not the answer he had been expecting. "The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God. At my side. Imagine what you could do: think of the civilizations you could save. Perganon, Assinta... your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords... reborn."

The Doctor was still saying nothing, just staring into Mr. Finch's eyes and not looking away. Sierra found this very creepy, as if the headmaster-wannabe was hypnotizing him.

"Doctor, don't listen to him." Sarah Jane told the Time Lord. Mr. Finch turned to face the three females in the room. "And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young... fresh... never wither, never age... never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

The Doctor had a faraway look in his eyes... he was so terribly tempted. Sierra felt like she was going to freak out. Her fingers were itching to get her gun and preferably blast that smirk away from Finch's face. Not stun, blast.

"I could save everyone..." The Time Lord said quietly.

"Yes."

"I could stop the war..." His voice was barely a whisper anymore.

"No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss - they define us as much as happiness or love." Sarah Jane put in.

"That's right. In order to understand future, you must look at the past and learn from there first." Sierra continued, the gun trained on Mr. Finch's face now.

"Whether it's a world or a relationship... everything has its time. And everything ends." Sarah Jane continued.

"And those are your words, Doctor!"

The Doctor stared for a few more seconds but the words he heard seem to strengthen his resolve. He gritted his teeth, picked up a chair and hurled it through the screen displaying the code, which smashed.

"Out!" He yelled all of them. And then they ran.

* * *

When they ran along the corridor, they heard a screech echoing throughout the school. They also heard a fainter crash ahead of them. At the bottom of the stairs they met up with Mickey and Kenny.

"What is going on?" Mickey asked. He had also heard the screech. None of them said anything; the young man got his answer anyways. The three Krillitanes half flew, half groped their way along the corridor towards them. The Doctor and the others turned on their heels and ran in the opposite direction. They ran into the canteen and tried the doors on the other side, but they were locked. The Doctor reached inside his coat for the Sonic Screwdriver, just as Mr Finch burst through the doors followed by several of the Krillitanes.

"Are they my teachers?" Kenny asked in confusion. Sierra almost cooed at the innocence in his voice. She hadn't heard anything like it for a long time.

"Yeah. Sorry." The Doctor shrugged.

"Leave the Doctor alive. As for the others... you can feast." Mr. Finch told the other Krillitanes.

The aliens swooped down on them. The Doctor tried to beat them off with a chair. Sierra blasted the two she managed to hit before they realized to avoid her. The others screamed and tried to duck out of the way when suddenly one of the Krillitanes was hit with a beam of red light and fell to the floor, dead. Mr Finch roared with rage.

"K9!" Sarah Jane gasped in relief and happiness.

"Good boy!" Sierra laughed, blasting another Krillitane in the confusion and chaos.

"**Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." ** The robot dog told the woman.

"Come on!" The Docotr gestured them and they ran, again. K9 stood still, shooting at the Krillitanes again and again. "K9, hold them back!"

"**Affirmative, master. Maximum defense mode!"**

The Doctor reached a door and ushered the others through it. "Come on!" He slammed it shut behind them and locked it with his sonic screwdriver.

"_**Power supply failing."**_ They heard through the closed door K9 saying before they continued running.

Chemistry class. The Doctor was pacing around, thinking fast, figuring things out. Sierra watched him silently from her place on one of the desks. The other's stood.

"It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil! That's it! They've changed the physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?" The Doctor stopped and looked at Rose.

"Barrels of it." The blonde girl answered. The Krillitanes started to pound on the locked door, their claws ripping holes in it. Everyone in the room jumped.

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens. Mickey-…"

"What now, hold the coats?" The boy sighed.

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats, how do we fight bats?"

"High sound?" Sierra suggested, her eyes following Kenny who strode over to a fire alarm, breaking the glass with his elbow and setting it off. The Krillitanes immediately winced and quailed at the shrill sound. The Doctor beamed and flung the door open. The Krillitanes were in too much distress to hurt them. They all hurried past them.

They ran along the corridor. The fire alarm was cut off now. K9 emerged from a doorway in front of them.

"**Master!"** It called.

"Come on, boy! Good boy." The Doctor praised the tin dog and K9 slid along with them. Mickey left them soon while the rest of them ran to the kitchen. When they reached the cooking room the Doctor immediately held the Sonic Screwdriver to one of the oil barrels.

"They've been deadlock sealed!" He huffed but tried another nevertheless. "Finch must've done that. I can't open them."

"**The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser. But my batteries are failing."** K9 told them.

"Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, stay with me." The Doctor told them.

"I can blast them open." Sierra offered but got pushed out of the room along with Sarah Jane, Rose and Kenny. With a sigh she ran with them to the backdoor, leaving the Doctor crouched before K9.

* * *

Outside the school the four of them waited for the Doctor to come out while children poured out of the doors. Finally the Time Lord ran out of the school too. Seeing K9 wasn't with him, Sarah Jane asked immediately and urgently:

"Where's K9?"

"We need to run." Came the reply and The Doctor started to run.

Sarah Jane didn't move an inch. "Where is he?! What've you done?"

The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her away. He grabbed her hand then as they ran for their lives - just like they used to during those good old times they both remembered. Mickey ran to them when all the kids were out. And not a moment too early: the school exploded right before their eyes. The children assembled outside all bursted into cheer and applause. Rose and Mickey joined in, hugging each other and grinning manically. Sierra shook her head, a smile on her face.

"Yes!" Kenny punched the air.

"Did you have something to do with it?" A girl next to him, Melissa, asked.

"Yeah, I did." The boy grinned. Her mouth dropped open.

"Oh my God." She breathed before shouting to everyone else. "Kenny blew up the school! It was Kenny!"

And the children cheered even harder and started chanting 'Kenny! Kenny! Kenny!' and patting him on the back in the process. Only the Doctor and Sarah Jane stood separate from the merriment. Sierra glanced at them. Sarah Jane looked distraught.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor told her solemnly.

"It's all right. He was just a... daft metal dog. Fine, really." The woman said quickly before bursting into tears. The Doctor put his arm around her comfortingly. Rose turned back to look up at the school with Mickey but Sierra kept looking at the other pair. The brunette's face was void of any emotion. Everything was so clashed inside her at the moment.

* * *

It was a beautiful day. They were gathered in a park. All of them together yet separated. Sarah Jane walked up to the TARDIS. The Doctor stepped outside the doors and faced her. Sierra peeked outside too and waved to the woman who smiled tiny smile back.

"Cuppa tea?" The Doctor offered, stepping aside to let Sarah Jane walk through the doors. She looked at the interior, wide-eyed. The Doctor followed her through and shut the door behind her. Sierra sat on the part of the railing next to the door and observed the two. Sarah Jane turned around to face the Time Lord.

"You've redecorated!" She said.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked a bit carefully.

"Oh, I… I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but uh... yeah. It'll do!" Sarah Jane smiled.

"I love it." Rose told them.

"Yeah, because this's the only look you know it as." Sierra smirked to the blonde. "But I like it too. The very first interior was boring and the two next ones from this one are nice too but this is my favorite."

"Since when you have seen the first one?" The Doctor frowned at the girl.

"TV…" She said uneasily and shifted a bit. Did the Doctor remember meeting her as Two? And according Sarah Jane she had met her too with Three or Four… Sierra looked up at the Time Lord who had narrowed his eyes a bit but turned away then to follow the exchange between Rose and Sarah Jane.

"Hey, you - what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?" Sarah Jane asked Rose.

"No idea. It's gone now - the oil's faded." The blonde shrugged.

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him."

Rose smiled. "You and me both."

Sarah Jane nodded. Rose looked to the Doctor who had walked up to the console and was now fiddling with the computer.

"Doctor...?" Rose asked carefully. The Time Lord looked up.

"Um… We're about to head off, but... you could come with us." He said to Sarah Jane. Rose looked at her, smiling expectantly. Sierra smiled too. It would be nice to have the brilliant and smart woman around a bit more. And she probably would bring some mature aspect to the conversations and give Sierra a break from the lovey-dovey faces the other two gave each other time to time. Sarah Jane looked from happy face to happy face. And shook her head. Sierra sighed. She had known it…

"No... I can't do this anymore."

The Doctor's and Rose's smiles faded slightly.

"Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead! Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own." She told them enthusiastically and brightly.

"Can I come?" Mickey asked. Sarah Jane looked surprised. Sierra snickered quietly behind her hand and fortunately none of the other occupants in the console room noticed it. Rose knew exactly what he meant and looked none too pleased.

"No, not with you, I mean... with you." Mickey explained quickly and gestured to the Doctor. "'Cause I'm not the tin dog. And I wanna see what's out there." He added. Rose mouthed 'no' at the Doctor. Sierra shot a steely glare on the blonde and resisted the urge to go and slap her.

"Oh, go on, Doctor. Sarah Jane Smith - a Mickey Smith. You need a Smith on board!" Sarah Jane smiled.

"Okay then, I could do with a laugh." The Doctor shrugged. Rose rolled her eyes. Mickey laughed in delight, but stopped quickly upon noticing Rose's lack of response.

"Rose, is that okay?" He asked, almost undetectable hint of fear in his voice.

"No, great. Why not?" Rose replied sarcastically, her arms crossed over her chest. A rather awkward silence followed.

"Well, I'd better go." Sarah Jane said and took Rose aside. The Doctor returned his attention to the computer and Sierra walked to Mickey.

"She can be a real ass sometimes. I've noticed. Don't take it on you." She murmured to the boy.

"I… I've noticed it too." Mickey nodded. They looked at each other and smiled.

"She has a proper crush on the Doc." Sierra pointed out. He nodded again.

"I've noticed."

"Well… maybe two third wheels can make another pair to roll onwards." Sierra shrugged.

"Friends?" Mickey offered his left fist.

"Friends." She bumped her right one against it and looked towards the doors where the Doctor holding it open for Sarah Jane. The woman stepped out of the TARDIS for the last yet not quite last time. Not that they knew that. The Doctor followed her and they stood outside for their final goodbyes.

"It's daft. But I haven't ever thanked you for that time, and like I said - I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Sarah Jane smiled.

"Something to tell the grandkids." The Doctor pointed out.

"Oh, I think it'll be someone else's grandkids now."

"Right. Yes, sorry - I didn't get a chance to ask. You haven't... there hasn't been anyone...? You know...?" The Time Lord looked a bit awkward at that and was determinately looking at his shoes.

"Well... there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while. But he was a tough act to follow." Sarah Jane shrugged. She laughed slightly then and the Doctor smiled softly. "Goodbye, Doctor. It was nice to meet you again. You and Sierra both."

"Sierra? But she hasn't… Has she…?" The Doctor frowned. Sarah Jane cocked her head on the side.

"Yes, I have met her before. It obviously hasn't happened to her yet but there's no mistaking her." The woman told him. "You were there too. Your… Third form. And UNIT was also there. You were so happy to see her. Said something about her flying through the wall of Tardis in your previous life." The Time Lord's frown deepened.

"I haven't ever met her before my Ninth body." He said.

"Oh… But she was there. Caused us a whole lot of trouble but helped then. You were vexed at first but then really happy to see her again. Don't you remember? You even gave her a ride back to her own time because her Vortex Manipulator was broken. She laughed that you were being her taxi again."

"I… I don't remember any of that." The Doctor took a step back, thoroughly confused. He remembered Sierra's fidgeting from before too. She had noticed that he didn't remember. How many times had he met her then before she had met him? And why didn't he remember it?

"Well, maybe it's nothing…" Sarah Jane interrupted his train of thought. "Maybe you don't remember because it hasn't happened to her yet… Or maybe regeneration shock has wiped something away." She tried to reassure the confused Time Lord.

"Yeah… maybe. My Eight body had amnesia…" The Doctor nodded. Yes, that must be it.

"Take a good care of her. A good care of them all."

"I will. I try. I do my best. I-…" Sarah Jane chuckled and shook her head lightly.

"Goodbye, Doctor"

"Oh, it's not goodbye-…" He tried but she interrupted him.

"Say it, please. This time. Say it."

The Doctor lifted his gaze up from the ground and this time looked straight into her eyes as he said: "Goodbye. My Sarah Jane."

He threw his arms around her and lifted her right off the ground in a final embrace. He gave her one last smile before heading back into the TARDIS and closing the door behind him, leaving Sarah Jane standing alone outside. The engines stared up and she walked slowly away, not looking back until it was almost gone, her eyes sparkling with tears. The leaves billowed in the breeze created by the TARDIS, and K9 was revealed where he must been sitting just out of sight behind it.

"K9!"

The tin dog trundled over to her.

"**Mistress!"**

Sarah Jane crouched down. "But... you were blown up!"

"**Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."**

"Oh...! He replaced you with a brand new model!"

"**Affirmative."**

"Yep. He does that. Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do."

"**Affirmative." **And Sarah Jane and K9 walked off into the sunset.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, here this was. Please review! See you again some day. :)**


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